Obama and the 'They' Sayers

[ariesgem]

The Washington Post | July 31, 2007

By Eugene Robinson

Are white Americans really, truly prepared to elect an African American president? Seriously, is a nation with such a long and shameful history of brutal slavery, Jim Crow segregation and persistent racism actually going to put a black man in the White House?

One of Barack Obama's principal tasks in the coming months may be convincing African American voters that this whole phenomenon -- a black candidate with a well-financed campaign, proven crossover appeal and a real chance to win -- isn't just another cruel illusion. I hear from African Americans who are excited about Obama's candidacy but who suspect that somehow, when push comes to shove, "they" won't let him win. It's unclear who "they" might be -- white voters, the "power structure," the alignment of the stars -- and it's unclear how "they" are going to thwart Obama's ambition. The point is that, somehow, he'll be denied.

This anecdotal evidence finds some empirical support in the polls, although it's far from definitive. A recent CNN poll of Democrats in South Carolina -- a crucial, early-primary state where African Americans will cast about half the Democratic votes -- showed Hillary Clinton leading Obama by a bigger margin among blacks than among whites. And while white respondents thought Clinton had only a slightly better chance of winning the 2008 general election than Obama, blacks who were polled thought Clinton was fully twice as likely to beat a generic Republican opponent.

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The CNN poll's sample of black voters was so small, and its margin of error so great, that it's impossible to draw firm conclusions. For that matter, it would be a mistake to take any of these early polls too seriously. But isn't Obama at least a bit concerned that black voters might succumb to a kind of historical fatalism about how race works in America? "What I see is a lot of press fascination with a black candidate who does not yet have 100 percent of the African American vote," Obama said yesterday in a telephone interview. "It's fascinating to me that people would expect that somehow I would be getting unanimous black support at this stage of the campaign, when probably only about 50 percent of black voters know much about me at all."

Obama pointed out that "black folks have known the Clintons for a long time." He also noted that when he ran for the U.S. Senate, his poll numbers among African Americans started low but later went stratospheric as voters got to know him.

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Asked about fatalism or resignation among black voters, Obama said, "I'm sure there's some of that going on. The way to solve that problem is to win." That I reached Obama in the midst of a campaign swing through Iowa was no accident. "If I do well in Iowa, and if I do well in New Hampshire . . . then by the time we get to South Carolina, I think we will have dispelled the notion that somehow whites won't vote for African Americans."

The dispelling of notions seems to be a specialty of Obama's -- or maybe it's just his fate in life. Last week, in his fight with Clinton over whether a president should meet with foreign leaders who are adversaries in addition to those who are friends, Obama dispelled the questionable notion that a politician who learned his craft in rough-and-tumble Chicago, where Marquess of Queensberry rules do not apply, could somehow have failed to learn how to take or deliver a punch. "That was a fun debate . . . an important, substantive debate," he told me, before sticking in another jab about how "'experience' means reciting the conventional wisdom in Washington . . . that got us into the Iraq war."

Obama spent weeks dispelling the notion, held by some in the national media, that he somehow isn't "black enough." He still gets asked that question, but by now he has mostly put the matter of his racial identity to rest. As he knew all along, he's black. Now he has to dispel the notion that because he's black, somehow "they" will slap him down.

http://www.barackobama.com/2007/07/31/obama_and_the_they_sayers.php

[PATRICK]

1. Thanks WAPO

for very much sounding and acting like "they". Tying the oh so wise pundit knot into a noose around the neck of a Dem candidate. These are the same media types that had no problem hyping GOP Powell as a great conciliating candidate, never mind his likely effect on the black agenda itself. That was entirely a thrilled white guy thing. They also were prepared to respect an outrageous Condi Crony run until a residual gag reflex from the Watergate days kicked in.

The voter electorate contains a racist element, strongly GOP, that even so is more inclined to back Obama than Hillary. The concerns of the black electorate are as Obama has stated, although he can never make the awkward rational point work politically to help the situation right as the moment. Fear is the force pulling at these helpful knots from the corporate press. And fear is what this helpful media is constantly peddling. Net gain by this helpfulness: Hillary, at the same time damaging credibility that her core has much genuine depth. Again, fear.

[eweaver155]

2. Polling has always been subjective,

and the media's polling of African Americans is dreadful. Media outlets like CNN, MSNBC and Fox News have done extensive research/analysis and know exactly where to go to get a desired result, especially if media types have chosen which candidate they will support and broadcast more often than not. It's amazing how voters in Iowa and New Hampshire can be polled excessively but not voters in the inner city, ethically diverse neighborhoods or the Southern states as frequently. Don't assume that only African Americans live in the inner cities of this nation. There is a solid mix of Whites, Blacks, Hispanic and other groups and the one thing that the vast majority of Americans have in common, no matter where you live or your social/economic status, is an opinion and a single vote. The media can do a much better job being "fair & balanced" and obtain true poll numbers.