This disturbed me on many levels, firstly it assumes that the Republican Party can somehow manipulate the Democratic Party to a high degree, but more importantly, the lack of faith in the progress shown in America over the last 50 years was astounding.
As we know, the GOP has employed a "Southern Strategy" for decades, playing on the American South's perceived racism and the fundamentalist Bible Belt. It's been 28 years since Reagan overtly used this to his advantage. Bush, while still playing on the race issue through the use of the phony "federalism" which is nothing more than code for appointing SCOTUS Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade and more germane to this post, Affirmative Action, was more keyed to the Religious Right than to underlying racism.
It's been a long time since racism was quite so overt. We now regularly see mixed-race couples everywhere we go and in the media. This was a rare sighting when I was a kid, but now no one even looks twice (well, no one who isn't a flat out, vocal racist).
So can Obama win an election? Yes, I think he can. He's not my first choice, but this has nothing to do with electability or race, but only with his centrism. I'm a leftist and am proud of this fact. I'll vote for him should he receive the Democratic nomination and I'll do so proudly, just as I proudly cast a vote for Deval Patrick here in my home state of Massachusetts. Upon hearing of Governor Patrick's landslide victory, I was filled with emotion and joy that race was not a factor. I hope that if circumstances are right I'll feel that same joy in November.
5 comments:
It's interesting that you think race is a bigger issue than gender in this election. I suspect a black man has a better chance than any woman.
Actually, I would have most likely (and may still) written a very similar post regarding gender had Senator Clinton taken the front-runner position over Senator Obama.
I think gender is a big issue, but I would disagree that more people in America would vote for a black man over a white woman. Senator Clinton polls extremely well in National polls (better than 50% in most). While there are certainly some fools (of both genders) who would never vote for a woman, there are a lot more closeted racists in my opinion. Even here in liberal ol' Massachusetts, I'm often stunned by the casual racism of people I would never have suspected it from.
Senator Clinton's bigger problem is that she carries a lot of baggage unfortunately and I think that baggage has hurt her a lot more than just her gender. She has been vilified for 16 years by the right-wing in this country, some of those attacks have certainly been sexist in nature but there have been just as many that are policy related. I know many people who would never vote for her because they "just don't like her." They can never give a good reason but the reason is the constant bashing she has taken form the right-wing since her attempt at Universal Health Care in the early 90's.
I would be extremely proud to vote for her as well should she win the nomination (more so than Senator Obama in fact because she is closer...minutely so...to my personal politics, than Senator Obama).
It frightens me that this country is so backwards that either race or gender are still an issue. Heck, Pakistan, widely regarded as one of the most oppressive count
Having started out in Massachusetts but then lived many other places (some in the South), I would argue that Massachusetts is the most racist place I have lived (against blacks -- London is worse against Arabs). Massachusetts is liberal in some ways, not in others.
I think a lot of people who "don't like" her so strongly feel that way because of gender. They may say it isn't, but a man who acted like her would not be an issue.
Check out this post, please. Actually, you'd probably like her blog overall, so you might want to see a few other posts of hers.
http://matriarch17.blogspot.com/2008/01/women-are-never-front-runners.html
Wheelsonthe bus told me about your blog. I hate to see the return of arguments about who is more oppressed--blacks or women. Black women probably face the hardest lives. This issue came up constantly in the early days of the second feminist movement and held back both the civil rights movement and feminism. Each lost their most obvious supporters. Feminism was guilty of overemphasizing highly educated professional women and ignoring the far greater problems of women of color.
I could discuss this at great length. I am so glad to discover your excellent blog.
It seems less socially acceptable to be overtly racist than to be overtly sexist. However, we will not know until the general election how many racists are lying to pollers. Many people still believe that accusations of sexism reflect strident feminist refusal to accept biology. I have been stunned by the casual sexism of the blogging left.
How much of Clinton's baggage is due to her gender? Her refusal to bake cookies, insistence on being Hillary Rodham Clinton, her dismissing simplistic "stand by your man" loyalty arroused great hostility in the early years of the Clinton administration. Eleanor Roosevelt was the only other first lady who was comparable. Many baby boomer women blame her for not divorcing Bill.
Wouldn't any woman who had being the presidential frontrunner incur similar baggage? I come from NY; Hilllary has been spectacularly successful at winning over New Yorkers. She has successfully worked with Republicans senators. Some have actually apologized for hating her.
Two years ago there was a survey; 40 percent of teenage girls expressed doubt that there would be women president in their lifetime. In the early years of feminism, I suspect girls would be less pessimistic.
When I first started teaching, it shocked me how many girls were very vocal about being "anti-feminists." The Backlash may have quieted down, but I fear the latent sentiments are strong.
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