Tuesday, October 21, 2008

No, It's NOT "Black Racism"!

I really think John Ridley at The Huffington Post did a good job this morning of putting an end to the false rumor being spread by Rush Limbaugh's Dittoheads PUMA McTrolls that Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama last weekend was entirely "ALL ABOUT RACE!!!!" & that African-Americans are always "racist" in only supporting African-American candidates.

Uh huh. So why didn't Al Sharpton or Carol Mosely Braun win the DC Primary in 2004? Why didn't African-American voters cross party lines in droves to vote for Alan Keyes in 1996 & 2000? Why didn't Jesse Jackson win the majority of the Afro-American vote in 1984 or 1988?

Obviously, black voters don't support black candidates "just because they're black". If that were the case, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) should have lost his Congressional race in the majority-black Memphis district in 2006 to Harold Ford's brother... But he didn't! Yes, believe it or not, black voters choose the best candidate, just like all the rest of us. And when we remember this, that only confirms what Colin Powell said himself on Sunday.

So there, another "PUMA McTroll myth" debunked for today! ;-)

1 comments:

jackscrow said...

There are several blacks at my workplace who have never voted. (I asked.) You bet your a** they are registered, voting and are very aware of what is going on -- this year.

There are a couple blacks who work there that have been registered and vote every election, but the rest are ALL newly registered. I asked. They were happy to tell me.

As gently as I can (and I can do this, because I'm not just some nosy white guy, I'm the guy that talks to them about everything else...), I try to narrow it down, and when it comes down to it, it is not for any other reason, even though they may list it as something else (Economics, mad at Bush, etc...). When you ask them in any depth about economics, and why they're mad at Bush, what prompted them to register this time, it comes back to Obama -- and yet they can't really give a reason why HE inspired them to register. None of them comes out and says "Hey, it's time for a black President."

So, even though it may piss a few of you off, I think that most blacks who are newly registered, especially people who have had the opportunity to register and vote before, are doing it this time because a (partially) black man is running. And that's that.

As far as the anti-black, White, traditionally racist vote, McCain will not benefit from any supposed cross-over vote. From the historically racist areas, and from voters who are already registered, there is gonna be NO substantial group of newly registered voters that are registering simply to vote against Obama. In fact, and I've said this before, the Democrat White racist voters (see WVA, KY, Al, GA, etc...) are simply gonna stay home, or not vote in the Presidential. The 'pubs are not going to see a cross-over vote of any size from these people.

The pollsters are radically wrong if they think this race is close right now. That's not saying it won't get closer, as it always does in the last two weeks, but the newly registered Dem voters are going to have the say in what happens this election, and that say says Obama will be the next President.

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