Obama '08?

Indians and hispanics were at war at the same time Indians and "white" people were.

Yeah. "were at war" should be amended to "are at war."

OBill, You are correct; there is no racial discrimination in CR.

The rest of your thesis sounds reasonable from my vantage point; I believe Colin Powell would have been a viable choice if it were not for his association with the Bush administration.

Wow, that's a lot of focus on race... and you folks are the smart ones. Imagine the conversations the ignorant will have? I think it naive to think this won't play a major role... but I think many are underestimating Obama's ability to spin. The man has the "sales man's gift" for turning negatives into positives and I suspect he's good enough to make even this hurdle a wash.

While I have never and would never apologize for slavery, having never participated; that doesn't mean I'm insensitive to the plight of blacks since. Were I 50/50 split over who to vote for; common decency would send me to the black man's corner. I strongly suspect there are at least as many people who'd like to prove they're not racist as there are racists in this country. Obviously, the more educated will likely lean in this direction easier, but I don't think it's a liberal phenomenon at all.

Obama could do a better job of explaining/defending Democratic positions than most... if not every other viable option. I could also see him largely side-step attempts to turn it into a race thing... while his curt, intelligent answers would suffice. In this way, I think the mud-slingers would get themselves as dirty as anyone (much like the swifties and, sorry folks, the rabid ABB). There is a limit to how much mud you can throw, before you are simply dismissed as a mud-thrower. I think Obama is uniquely qualified to walk between the rain (mud) drops in this respect.

10 to 1 Sierra can't come up with a coherent answer about what Obama has "explaining to do"...

any takers?

snood wrote:

10 to 1 Sierra can't come up with a coherent answer about what Obama has "explaining to do"...

any takers?

You could do your own footwork. I don't think he'll run, but if he does I'll certainly have questions. So will you.

While I have never and would never apologize for slavery, having never participated; that doesn't mean I'm insensitive to the plight of blacks since. Were I 50/50 split over who to vote for; common decency would send me to the black man's corner. I strongly suspect there are at least as many people who'd like to prove they're not racist as there are racists in this country. Obviously, the more educated will likely lean in this direction easier, but I don't think it's a liberal phenomenon at all.

Skin color has nothing to do with it. I don't get the 50/50 split thing.

In my opinion, it's the media that will bring 'race' into the mix.

Finn d'Abuzz wrote:

Side Note: It is interesting that he his so often described as an African-American. Perhaps he prefers that designation himself, but wasn't his father black and his mother white? Can't help also thinking, in this context, of today's British Open winner, Tiger Woods. He too is more often then not referred to as African-American, while his father was black and his mother is asian.

Yeah, good point. But thats how it goes: everyone who is not pure white, is black - eg, one parent of colour will have you categorised as that parent's race. That's done as consistently by whites as by any minority group "claiming" the person, and it says something.

Yeah, nice definition.

Finn, I wonder what you would call Obama? I wouldn't call him white. I think he has as good or better a claim on "African-American" as anyone else, since his father was, in fact, African.

I think "African-American" and "black" are generally interchangeable, depending on current preferences. (Those preferences have seemed to wobble a bit in the last decade or so, but maybe it's just that different people prefer different terminology and those people have remained steadfast but it depends on who I'm talking to. At any rate, "African-American" seems to be fading, a bit, somehow has an early 90's connotation. "Black" seems to be being used more. That's completely anecdotal/ my own impression, nothing to back it up.)

Has anyone suggested that race-consciousness is a bad thing?