The Associated Press has a news article opining that growing minority populations in various counties is good news for Obama.
“The key this time is there are a fair number of battleground states that are becoming more diverse, and maybe diverse enough to make a difference,†said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
The article doesn’t really go into why minorities are more likely to vote for Democrats generally and Obama specifically. Is it just brown people voting for brown people? That may be part of it, but I don’t think it’s that simple. I wonder if it has to do with McCain and the Republicans promoting a return to a traditional, largely mythical past — maybe it’s the 50s, maybe it’s Eden — from which we have deviated to our detriment. The problem being that this return to tradition probably wouldn’t mean good things to minority populations, inasmuch as they weren’t treated very well.
Ironically, in the past, America was always the young, brash nation; looking toward the future and not having much reverence for the past. Hopefully we won’t drift into the sort of knee-jerk ancestor worship that leads to stagnation.
Minority populations tend to vote democratic because the republican party often fails to address the issues of their communities politically and in fact, will run and campaign on political themes that explicitly threaten the interests of those populations. African Americans are a case in point. Conservative (as opposed to Republican, they are no longer synonymous) approaches to problems have much to recommend in the way of effective solutions for black Americans. Republicans have done an absolutely pathetic job of translating those better policy ideas and ideology into practical solutions that offer something to black Americans, and in fact, use divisive tactics to create wedge political opportunities they can exploit.
Minorities are not stupid, they recognize this and it creates an understandable mistrust which Republicans do very little of substance to dispel.
Huh!Republicans use divisive tactics to create wedge political oppotunities they can exploit.
Ever heard of the 9th district congressional race in Tenn.?In this democratic primary between incumbent Steve Cohen and Nikki Tinker,Tinker ran a ad linking Cohen to the KKK and showing him in hooded garb next to a burning cross asking something like who is the real Steve Cohen?The ad was condemed by Obama.Seems like Ms.Tinker was trying to exploit the fact that Cohen had opposed moving a statue of a confederate general from a park and this was a issue Ms.Tinker saw a opportunity to exploit and did so.
I’m not saying republicans wouldn’t do the same thing but democrats will do like wise also if a opportunity arises.They are all politicians regardless of party and will do most anything to be elected or re-elected.
My own view is that Republicans have long understood that if they acknowledge a difference by race how people are treated,that requires strong government involvement to make things right( or ‘constitutional’).So they make sure the private sector is in charge,which doesn’t give a hoot about race as long as the stock market provides investors with a good life.So the inequities of the poor and of race in society just stay or get worse.
Lou,
Well said.
Slap yourself in the face once or twice and you might get it… brown people ARE voting for Obama because he’s BROWN. Don’t read a bunch of enlightened BS into it, THAT’S WHY!
Why do you hate our past so much? All of our citizens are doing so much better than most people in the rest of the world. Why do you feel the need to tear that down?
I think what excites brown people is that Obama has a chance to win nationally. Voting for a brown/black guy used to be a lost cause unless the voters were content to just control ‘ghetto politics’ .A good number of us whites are also voting for the brown candidate and there’s no way Obama is going to win just with brown votes.Obama, if he wins, will be elected by ‘the white vote’. The obsession with race ( on all sides) just shows how fundamental race is to American culture and politics,and long has been.
It will take a black ( brown) candidate to transcend race in this country; Obama has been walking a very fine line,and his centrism has gotten him criticism from both sides.In the end, he should benefit from that.He’ll always look black,but he must gain trust of white americans.
If the Bush administration hadn’t been such an abomination,Obama never would be where he is,so let’s give the perceived failure of conservatism (as implemented) some credit for allowing Obama to get into the first row for a look-see.
I don’t hate our past. I hate that Americans make a fetish of an idealized, largely fictional version of it. We’re not alone in this. A lot of countries do this sort of thing when they’re past their prime.
if blacks are only voting for obama because of his skin color, why didn’t they vote for alan keyes?
That’s a transcendentally gob-smacking statement, right there.
Parker,
Do you think McCain has made any attempt to transcend race? Was Obama’s comment about his face not being like others on dollar bills a racist statement? It seemed humorous to me when I heard it. Not all race comments are intended racist,but someone else can see them that way.What could Obama have said that would transcend race? These are all open-ended questions open for differering opinions,and in my view that’s how we ‘transcend race’.So I stand corrected that MCain could have transcended race in his statement but chose not to.