WP, Eugene Robinson: Oprah the Believer

[DeepModem Mom]

Oprah the Believer
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 11, 2007; Page A21

Is it foolish to think that a nation stained by centuries of slavery and racism is prepared to elect a black president? Rarely phrased so bluntly, that's the central question posed by Barack Obama's candidacy -- especially for many African American voters, whose doubts are informed by having seen many an oasis turn out to be a mirage. Oprah Winfrey, as is her wont, cut to the heart of the matter. Campaigning on Obama's behalf this weekend, she echoed the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in offering permission to believe. "Dr. King dreamed the dream," Winfrey told a predominantly black crowd of 29,000 in Columbia, S.C. "But we don't have to just dream the dream anymore. We get to vote that dream into reality."...

***

Even before Oprahpalooza stormed the country, there was considerable evidence that black voters had been moving toward Obama. The most recent Mason-Dixon poll, based on interviews conducted last week, shows Obama with a 16-point lead over Clinton among black Democrats in South Carolina -- a complete reversal of where things stood in the summer....

I don't know what will happen when Iowans go into their caucuses or when voters in New Hampshire and the other primary states go into their voting booths; if all the people who told pollsters they would vote for black candidates actually did so, Tom Bradley would have been elected governor of California. But I'm pretty confident that little or no overt racism is likely to show up in the opinion polls. If I'm right, and Obama continues at or near the top of the field in overwhelmingly white states such as Iowa, then black voters who are so inclined will be more likely to take the leap of faith.

There's an old conundrum within the African American community: Push or be patient? Winfrey addressed it head-on. "There are those who say it's not his time, that he should wait his turn," she said of Obama. Then she asked the crowd: "Think about where you'd be in your life if you'd waited when people told you to. I wouldn't be where I am if I'd waited on the people who told me it couldn't be."

Obama is still a long way from the presidency, but anyone who follows politics knows that there is no guarantee that he'll ever get this close again. No one can ask him not to try to seize the moment. I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge that the whole idea of America electing a black president still seems improbable to me. But no longer impossible.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001563.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[babylonsister]

1. Recommend! It's "no longer impossible". HOPE! nt

[sandnsea]

2. Someone talking about the content of the weekend

Gee, somebody needs to alert Olbermann.

[jaysunb]

3. In my lifetime...

in my lifetime....

[ClarkUSA]

4. I hope I will get to vote my dream into reality next November

I only wish Martin Luther King, Jr. had lived to see this day.