This past week, former Congresswoman and Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro asserted the following:
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
I want to pose a question regarding her statement. How much of Obama's current lead is attributable to his race? Personally, I feel that Ferraro's statement was ill-conceived, but not "patently absurd" as Obama has described it. I do believe that in a way, particularly for his upper class, well-educated white constituency, Obama has been able to transcend race. Many people are looking at his message of change and hope before they see his race, and for them, race becomes a non-issue. But what about the black vote? I do believe that if Obama wins such a tight contest, he will have to look back and recognize that it was largely due to him overwhelmingly carrying the black vote. This has historically been a major base for first Bill Clinton, and later Hillary. For him to take that base, I believe, will be what helps him defeat Clinton (should he do so). While I disagree with Ferraro's ludicrous statement that Obama is "lucky to be who he is" (which is just flat-out dumb), I do want to underscore that his being black should not be entirely lost when we analyze why he has catapulted to front-runner status, because a major base for the Democratic Party, black people, have shifted their allegiance from the Clinton family to the Illinois Senator, and could be the catalyst that sends him to the White House.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
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2 comments:
I agree with you on a basic level. Obama's image is definitely important, just as any public figure's image is important. I believe that race is a small portion of his image and is easy to disregard as it holds as much weight as any other individual attribute of the many that he has.
For some it will matter, for most it will not. Just as for some it will matter that McCain is white and for most it will not. More people will look at their personality, policies, ethics and so on before looking to race.
Evidence to back this up is the fact that black celebrities have endorsed both candidates in large numbers. Clinton has the public support of people like Timbaland and 50 cent. As an ignorant white person, I would have thought that proud black rappers such as those two would surely vote for the first black candidate in our country's history.
The fact that many blacks have chosen not to, as well as many whites have chosen to, shows that our country has indeed come a long way since the civil rights movement and though we can not disregard race as a factor, I think that it does not play as big of a role as some think. And the small effect is does have is a two way street.
Let me first say that I am a Clinton supporter and worked on her campaign in Texas. Last night, I almost broke my plasma as I threw my remote at Keith Olbermann during his "Hillary is a racist Republican" tyrade (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23601041/) If you haven't seen it you should; I normally enjoy his rants but last night his blatant misrepresentation of his opinions as fact infuriated me.
The Democratic Party is the party of diversity and thus, I believe that diverse candidates DO have an advantage in the Democratic Primary and I don't think that stating that makes me a racist. If there are two equally qualified candidates and one is a woman I will almost always vote for her. If there are two equally qualified candidates and one is black I will almost always vote for him or her. As Democrats, we recognize that women and minorities are overwhelmingly underrepresented in government.
I disagree with "ask" that race is only a small factor. Many Obama supporters cite hope, inspiration and change as their reasons for supporting him, but I think you are underestimating the number of people who have never been politically active before but are now motivated by the idea of electing the first black president. It comes as no surprise that over 80% of African Americans support Obama, but it does surprise me that black voters have carried Obama in every state in the deep South. Typically, relying on the black vote (or the Latino vote) is a recipe for disaster, but both black and Hispanic voters making an enormous impact on this election because they finally have candidates that they believe will do more than just talk about equal rights. Furthermore, I believe that John Edwards would still be a contender if race were not an issue. His southern base was cut out from him because he was running against a black candidate.
This sentiment extends beyond African American voters. I have been on the ground talking to student voters and one of the top reasons that Obama supporters give is that they think it would be exciting to elect a black president. Let me be very clear that "hope" and "change" are by far the top reasons young voters give for supporting Obama, but with the overwhelming turnout of voters between 18-25, who are breaking at least 3 to 1 for Obama, a large number of those are primarily motivated the idea of a black president.
The Ferraro comments have been overplayed in the media. I'm tired of reporters like Keith Olbermann and Wolf Blitzer making the news instead of reporting the news. Ferraro, a volunteer fundraiser for the Clinton campaign also wrote a book in which she explains that she would have never been considered for the VP nomination in '84 if not for her gender. The Obama campaign was waiting to pull out the race card and the media has given them three days of air time to run with it. Poor reporting does play an important role in popular opinion and the media's assertion that Ferraro is a racist and that Hillary failed to repudiate her racist remarks has slowed the momentum of the Clinton campaign.
To be fair, here is how the story should have been reported: This is Hillary Clinton in the New York times yesterday: “I said yesterday that I rejected what she said, and I certainly do
repudiate it,” said Senator Clinton at the forum sponsored by the National
Newspaper Publishers Association, a group that represents more than 200
African-American papers. “And I regret deeply that, you know, it was said.
Obviously she doesn’t speak for the campaign, she doesn’t speak for any of
my positions. And she has resigned from being a member of my very large
finance committee.”
She went on to say:
“You know, both Senator Obama and I have throughout this campaign had
to take occasion to remind our supporters and our staff that we want to
run this campaign based on our issue differences, our records, our
qualifications, our experience.
I think, I recall, it was in one of these debates maybe in January
where both of us said, ‘Look, we know that we don’t control what is said
by everybody who supports us.’ One of his top advisers had to resign about
something she said about me.
So we are aware that this happens, but we are particularly sensitive
to it because of the nature of this campaign and who each of us is. So we
do stand against it, we repudiate it, we try to take action wherever we
can, and we will continue to do that.”
The fact that the media focus has shifted off the issues and onto race has also made an impact. When the candidates talk about the issues, I believe that Senator Clinton gains. When they talk rhetoric, I believe Obama gains.
I support Senator Clinton, but I will back Senator Obama 100% if he gets the Democratic nomination. Not because of his race but because he would make a much better President than John McCain. I hope that Obama supporters will do the same for Senator Clinton, should she get the nomination.
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