My husband is really upset about NH.

[Skidmore]

He came home from work this evening and this is the first time we have been able to have a discussion about the events of last night. To get a better idea of this man, you may want to refer to my post from the other night.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3992956

He is extremely upset and firmly believes that there is a racial component to what happened. We discussed all the permutations of the analysis I've seen here and on the teevee. He said he didn't care. He's disappointed in the black community for not rallying to Obama and thinks that by holding back they are cutting him off at the knees. He also commented to me, "if black people don't step foward to give Obama a boost, then we will never have this chance again--it will not be allowed." Now, I can't speak for black people, but I can pass on to you this one man's response. He is so upset and emotional right now. He told me if Obama is not on the ticket, he will vote Republican in the GE or back that mayor from NY in the GE. He will calm down, but I know this man, and he's a stubborn one. It will take a while.

[Bonobo]

1. Black community? In New Hampshire? Is there one?

[Xipe Totec]

7. Yes, and apparently not all supported Obama

I kid you not:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7333205&mesg_id=7333360

[Skidmore]

10. I know. He is generally anxious about this election, and

some of the callers to Washington Journal this morning really got to him. I didn't really see it today so I don't know what he specifically was responding to. I just know that this is going to be a long year.

[jasmine621]

2. Stubborn and disappointed.

A good dose of reality will help him out. Obamas will not win the Presidency no matter how many black people come out to vote for him. And many are not going to vote for him in the primary because they know the real deal.

[panader0]

Really? What, pray tell, is the "real deal"?

[K Gardner]

15. Hillary, is that you? Because I recognize that Reality Check and False Hope theme !

:hi:

[Sparkly]

3. Why does he think there's a "racial component?" nt

[jody]

4. IMO anyone who says either Obama or Repug hasn't thought about the differences between the parties.

[regnaD kciN]

17. Not necessarily, in all cases...

For example, neither Obama nor the Republicans would stick me with hundreds of dollars each month in required-by-law health insurance premiums.

I'm not saying that I'd vote for a Republican, but there are certain "red flag" issues that would prevent me from supporting a Democrat, either.

[jody]

33. I assume you want someone else to pay your health insurance premiums, that's either a free lunch or

you refuse to help those who are unable to pay for their own health care insurance.

[Skidmore]

30. Frankly, it is an emotional response on his part and his way of

protesting. As I said earlier, he'll calm down, but now it is pretty raw with him. He just told me a little while ago that the coverage is upsetting him so much he may just quit watching it for awhile.

[grasswire]

5. how many black folk ARE there in NH?

How could they support him in greater numbers if those numbers don't exist?

[TwilightZone]

6. I hate to point out the obvious, but NH doesn't exactly have much of a black community

to rally around Obama. NH is roughly 1% black.

I understand his underlying assertion, but NH isn't exactly much of a test to see if black people are going to rally behind Obama.

Source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/33000.html

[aquart]

8. How big a black community is there in NH?

And why does your husband expect American blacks to rally for Obama, but not insist that American women do the same for Hillary? (Because then she'd win?)

[Cameron27]

29. Yes,

there seems to be a bit of hypocrisy there.

[aquart]

41. Wee bit.

[aquaman11173]

9. all 7,500 of them

out of 1.3 million? Boy they really should have spoke up.

[1corona4u]

11. Uh, you might want to do some research....

there's like 1% blacks in NH, maybe less....here ya go;


Population, 2000 1,235,786 281,421,906
Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2006 5.6% 6.8%
Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2006 22.6% 24.6%
Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2006 12.4% 12.4%
Female persons, percent, 2006 50.7% 50.7%
White persons, percent, 2006 (a) 95.8% 80.1%
Black persons, percent, 2006 (a) 1.1% 12.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2006 (a) 0.3% 1.0%
Asian persons, percent, 2006 (a) 1.9% 4.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2006 (a) Z 0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2006 1.0% 1.6%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2006 (b) 2.3% 14.8%
White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2006 93.8% 66.4%
Living in same house in 1995 and 2000, pct 5 yrs old & over 55.4% 54.1%
Foreign born persons, percent, 2000 4.4% 11.1%

[aquaman11173]

13. here is an interesting link

http://www.psnh.com/SharePDFs/NHFactBook_Demographics.pdf

[Skidmore]

19. As I pointed out up this thread, he is very invested in this

election and is very anxious about it on a number of levels. I think he is looking at it through the lens of his life experiences and generalizing those results and what he is hearing to the national election. I hate seeing him so hopeful and so disappointed at the same time.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Does He Understand Women Have Aspirations Too And See Hillary As The Embodiment Of Their Hopes?

~

[Skidmore]

28. So is it so hard to understand that Obama is perhaps the embodiment of his hopes?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. No...Not At All

Most of my African American friends are split or want an Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama ticket...

[Carolina]

31. women have aspirations, true

but Hillary is in no way the embodiment of my hopes just because she's my gender.

Right time. Wrong woman.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. You Miss The Point And Your Experience Is Not Universal

Skidore suggested that her husband sees Barack Obama is an embodiment of his aspirations...That's a noble sentiment...

I opined that many women, especially older ones, see Hillary as an embodiment of their aspirations...

[Carolina]

37. of course my experience is not universal

but no, I did not miss the point

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. TY

It's not Kant...

Some African Americans see Obama as a fulfillment of their dreams..

Some women see Hillary as a fulfillment of their dreams...

I hope it works out for both groups..

[Xipe Totec]

12. Obama got more votes than Edwards, McCain, Romney, Huckaby, Giuliani

There were plenty of white choices.

The fact that so many people in New Hampshire, one of the whitests states in the union voted for Obama, speaks highly of them.

[davidwparker]

14. This is similar to the black callers on C-SPAN's Washington Journal who

knock Obama. Just because you're black doesn't mean that you would support him, but still, it shouldn't mean that you would tear him down. One black caller said that it would come down to Huckabee and Obama and she referred to Obama being called YoMama and Huckabee being called Huckabuck (which I think is a dance).

She didn't want to hear about Huckabuck and YoMama.

Strange.

[BenDavid]

16. I cannot disrepect what you and your husband discussed but I

can tell you that 110,000 folks in new hampshire could not become that bigoted. This is the live free or die crowd. By even folks in the du hinting at this, means the folks in iowa are more liberal minded then new hampshire.WOW! You wanna know why HRC won then here is a sample of it:

Cafferty File: Here is the question. 4 p.m.: Behind by double digits in several last-minute polls, why was Hillary Clinton able to come back and win the New Hampshire primary? Here is my letter and my answer was verified on the ABC Evening News:

The news media and even The Situation Room during each hours segments had been doing everything they could to stop Hillary from being president.Some headlines:
Nobody Likes Hillary
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton
Hillary in Meltdown as Panic Grips Staff
Talk of Clinton Dropping Out
Hillary Braced for a Second Defeat
Drudge: Hillary Preparing to Drop Out
"Full-Blown Breakdown?"

Last night Hillary not only defeated Obama, she defeated the news media and CNN's Situation Room. The cable bastards and the mediawhore networks and talk radio will tell any clumsy lie necessary to discredit one of the Clintons.The Live free or die people did what I thought they would. They thought through the BS of the media and what is really going on.

What I loved best was watching the pundits talk about the polls and how far HRC was behind and them basically calling her campaign "dead in the water" without actually saying it. Then I sat up Tuesday night and watched the returns, and laughed my ass offas they tried to hide their puzzled expressions at her lead which never evaporated.

Sincerly,
Ben David

Oh and a few other things: Anyone those gop bastards hate as much as they hate HRC must have something going that scares the shit out of them.If nothing else, New Hampshire revealed how much media pundits know. It proves they're full of shit (yeah, I'm looking at you Chris Matthews). But maybe it's also evidence that we shouldn't make broad, sweeping judgments about a country of 290 million people, based on the vote of 230,000 people in Iowa

Ben David

[1corona4u]

Well said.

[Saturday]

18. Let me get this straight....

your husband is upset because blacks don't vote for Obama because he's black? Isn't that racist? That's a serious question. I really want to understand.

[Marrah_G]

20. Does he know what a small % of NH is black?

Please tell him the race is not over- There are 48 states left- most of them more diverse then NH.

[MasonJar]

22. What happened is hard for men to comprehend. I heard several NH

women voters being interviewed today on NPR. They voted for Hillary, not against Obama. Women all over this country are ready for a woman president. It is, they and I say, time. Hillary is a good choice. Is she perfect? NO! But she is brilliant and caring and hardworking. She wants to be our president; why should she not? Do not say she is a warmonger...she has said that she will exit Iraq. I believe her; why should I not believe her as much as Obama or Edwards, who have not better past records on anything DUerish than Hillary. Wake up, DU! The evil ones have duped you too; the Clinton hate machine has been at full throttle for almost two decades. Do not vote for Senator Clinton if you do not want to, but stop accusing this hardworking "woman" candidate of being Puglite...what an insult to one of our best democrats.

[durrrty libby]

23. Oh well. Tell him I am thrilled that the "women " community

finally showed up.

Edit to add... :loveya: Mason Jar

[zabet]

24. I do not know how to say this

without possibly angering someone.
He thinks all blacks should vote for
Obama just because he is black. I do
not see what is right about voting for
or against a candidate simply because of
race. I am sure the African-American voters
have given this much thought and consideration
but, I feel sure not all will vote for him.
On the uglier side of the this is the reality
that racism is far from dead and if nothing else,
some people will vote against him simply to keep
an African-American from winning. Some harbor hate
so large, this will be the one thing that will make
them get out and vote after not having voted in years.
People can talk a good game of 'acceptance' and 'I'm
not racist' while in public. It is a different story
in the privacy of that voting booth.

[DesertFlower]

25. wow. i'm an older white woman who is an obama supporter.

i don't see obama as black or white. to me he is "kennedy like". he's a man with a vision for the future.

now for the racism. they were just discussing it on MSNBC. i forget his name (a black professor) felt that racism was involved. i have to agree. there are some people in this country that have a different mindset. my own mother who is 84 said she was afraid if obama won he would cater to the blacks. i told her she was wrong.

i said to hubby last night. "hillary can never choose obama as a VP if she is the nominee". he asked why. i said "first of all there are people who do not want a woman as president -- yet alone with an african american VP." they will be defeated.

unfortunately, even though we think we've come far, in some ways we have not.

but i beg your husband. please do not vote republican. vote for the democrat whoever that is.

[Cha]

26. I can imagine just a very wee

bit how he felt last night and today..cause I know how I felt and I've just recently decided on Obama. We all have our reasons for wanting him to go all the way to our whitehouse and your husband's is very historical.

Instead of voting for facism though..he could write in Obama's name..on the other hand..We Can Do IT!

[gateley]

27. I don't understand that charge at all. Obama got nearly as many votes as

Hillary did -- it's not like he was blown out of the water.

I heard someone say that NH was more of a Biden state than IA was. Maybe it's the same for Hillary?

I just don't understand when you get SO MANY votes, but just come in second (way ahead of a white guy, by the way), how it could be construed as racial.
:shrug:

[Arkansas Granny]

32. I fully expect to be flamed for this remark, but here goes.

IMO, voting for Obama solely because he is black would be as racist as voting against him solely because he is black. In the same vein, voting for Hillary solely because she is a woman would be as sexist as voting against her solely because she is a woman. The same argument applies to John Edwards.

We need to get the best possible candidate on the ballot regardless of race or sex because putting a Democrat in the White House is the only way we can make the changes that we so badly need for the sake of our country. I will gladly and fully support whichever Democratic candidate who receives the nomination for the general election.

[catnhatnh]

35. Well, go with the facts as presented...

less that 1% black here and what percentage of democrats voted for him? And how many women deserted him? When the smoke clears he had huge support. I voted John Edwards and gender and sex had nothing to do with it.

[DivorcingNeo]

39. *sighs*

People who are not Black Americans will never understand. Many friends and family (who are black) that I talk to either want to vote for Obama, but have little hope or investment in him due to doubt of electibility, or won't because of the same reasons.

A very intelligent professional black woman told me last night to not get worked up over this election and that personally, she didn't like any of the candidates and didn't really care.

That is mind blowing to me...but I suppose for many living the black experience in America, it's reality.

I'm with Obama, I have hope and I'm an idealist. So I won't give in yet, but I will not vote for any other Democrat in the General Election (but him). I'll most likely vote Independent if a Candidate moves me.

Or as one poster suggested...write his name in.

[Bluerthanblue]

40. HI Skidmore!! It is good to read your post here-

I was so bummed out as well by the results- but this AM I was able to discuss this with someone whose perspective always helps me see things better. That helped- and hearing Obama on the radio this am helped a LOT.

I honestly don't think that race played heavily into these unexpected results. I believe that all the media hype showing Obama to have a huge lead gave people a false sense of recklessness. There is a visceral dislike of Mitt Romney here- among many native NH ites, and the idea of crossing over to vote for McCain (which was actually a vote AGAINST Romney) ended up coming back to bite those who chose to use their vote this way. Also, I know some people voted for other candidates who they admired, but didn't think were electable- believing that there were more than enough votes for Obama to win handily, and wanting to keep their voices in the race. I wouldn't encourage that. Obama got the 2 votes our household had to cast. And I've not felt so good about my choice of a candidate in a long, long time.

Our little town, went 2-1 for Obama over Clinton (214-106 with a record turnout)! If we step back and look at the facts, one short month ago everyone was predicting that Hillary would just walk away with the whole race- And here we are 2states in, and Obama is doing VERY well. I encourage your husband to try and tune out some of the political pundits- the media is so hungry for drama and take everything to extreems. If Obama had simply walked away with a landslide, people would be very suspect. I sincerly believe he will be our next president- I think the support will be there for him in the Black community as we move onto states with larger populations.

Please don't get too discouraged- And remind your dear husband that Obama is doing an excellent job.
This primary has just begun.

:grouphug:
blu

[Honeycombe8]

42. I can see why he'd jump to that conclusion, but there is no evid. whatsoever of a racial component.

None. I posted a post this evening listing 11 things that could have gone wrong, ALL of which are reasonable and more likely to be the culprits.

Please read my post. And tell your husband, this has happened before! Remember the exit polls showing that Kerry had won in 2004? They were sure wrong. And the press printed headlines, "Dewey Defeats Truman!" in 1948. Truman won.

There are a lot of things that came together to cause the bad polling that was done. AND NOT ALL THE POLLING WAS BAD. Fox News' poll showed Obama and Clinton as TIED. That's pretty darn close. Some exit polls showed a tie, as well.

Your husband is listening to some soundbites on TV by pundits and pollsters who are looking to blame the voters for their stupid mistakes. The pundits CHOSE to look at only the big-lead polls, and CHOSE to disregard some facts. Pollsters made some mistakes.

It's nothing more than that. But the pollsters are going to investigate, so they can fix the errors. Hopefully we'll find out what went wrong.

(Note: There could have been a few people who changed their mind about voting for an Af. American. But there just as easily could have been a few people who changed their mind about voting for an old man or for a woman.)

[Zynx]

43. His fears are poorly founded.

This is on my blog and a post I made earlier: http://bqreport.blogspot.com/2008/01/vote-in-new-hampshire-did-not-reflect.html