engineer wrote:okie wrote:I don't know anyone not voting for Obama because of race. I don't follow pollsters. I am sure a few people say they won't vote for him based on race, but do we know the actual number on election day, or should we care? I have read a few posts on this forum that indicate they are voting FOR Obama, one important reason being race. I consider people that vote based on race as being fairly naive, and I also consider it counter productive to become obsessed with talking about it and magnifying whatever the factor is. In fact, I think the continued stereotyping and racial classification as being one of the main reasons that racial bias continues to persist.
Cyclops has just posted what I think indicates Democrats want race to be an issue, not Republicans, otherwise why the polls constantly?
Just to be clear okie, I have never thought that you are against Obama due to his race. I think you are against Obama due to his politics and that is how it should be. Since I talk to a lot of anti-war folks, perhaps I am more exposed to a group of people who are the Dem's natural constituency this year. That said, I have met several who will not vote Obama due to race. Is my small sample representative? Perhaps not, but my sample size is big enough for me to say there is a voting bloc voting against Obama due to race. I live in the South and it may not make a difference electorally since there is no difference between losing by 10% or 6%, but I have plenty of observations saying that race is an issue in this election.
Fair enough. I am of the opinion that Democrats are more tuned into groups, such as race and gender, and therefore may vote either for or against a candidate based on those characteristics. Many of Clinton's staunchest supporters were women or even radical feminists, and something similar is true for Obama, he got a very very high percentage of the black vote, which is due to not only politics but race. I also think there is a large number of people, perhaps a single digit percentage of people that want to vote for a black simply to have a black president. I don't know if it is due to guilt or what?
In contrast, I find most Republicans or at least conservatives to be independent minded as individuals, and we vote almost entirely based upon political views and perception of leadership ability, as well as character being crucial.
I have also read snood's opinion that electing Obama would be a huge boost to him as a black person because of the validation he would finally feel. I personally find this to be a very sad commentary, that he finds it necessary to have a black president to validate him. If I were him, I would be valid based on my own personal accomplishments, not on whatever everyone else may think or do. And I also would ask him if the selection of Clarence Thomas was a validation, or if he even supported him. I doubt it, and so I think his claim is probably disengenuous. Or would he support a conservative black Republican running for president? I doubt it, and in fact conservative black politicians often face some of the stiffest oppostion from their own race.
I think the continued speculation that if Obama loses, it will be because of race is another setup by race hustlers within the Democratic Party, and I think it serves nothing useful. I also think it only perpetuates the problem that it purports to combat. The sooner we could forget race and run on actual merit and political ability, the sooner the problem can be further minimized.
