Black Support:How Barak will really get torn down.

By: presidentialman
Published On: 2/13/2007 2:03:31 AM

Many are talking about the GOP going after Barak, but I found this article from TIME more persuasive about Obama counting on Black Support(how he'll really fall down and lose his luster) :

Much of Obama's overall appeal stems from his image as practically a post-racial politician. Not only does he have a mixed-race background, with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, but his rhetoric, most notably his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, emphasizes the importance of Americans moving beyond political, religious and racial differences. He rarely makes explicit appeals based on his race the way Jackson did. " A lot of black people aren't ready to get beyond race, because race puts them in the situation they're in," said Ron Walters, a professor at the University of Maryland who worked on Jesse Jackson's Presidential runs. "But many whites want to get beyond the past, they want to support a black person who doesn't raise the past and in fact gives them absolution from the past."

Obama won't start off with universal support among black leaders. David Mack, a black state legislator in South Carolina, said he wanted someone with more national-security experience, so he' s backing Delaware Senator Joe Biden instead. "Obama's very bright and very capable and he has the ability to build a team, but I feel experience is so important," Mack said. Robert Ford, a South Carolina state senator, said supporting Obama was too risky for the Democratic Party. "Obama would need 43% of the white vote in some states to win, and that's humanly impossible," said Ford. "Black Americans in the South don't believe this country is ready to vote for a black President."

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of 43 black Democratic members of Congress, said she was "99% sure" her group would not support Obama en masse the way the powerful women's political organization Emily's List is backing Hillary Clinton. Many of the members, she said, would wait and see how the race shapes up. And others have already made up their minds in favor of others. Greg Meeks, a Democratic congressman from New York, says his decision is simple: he' s sticking with his hometown gal, Clinton, who has talked to him about her candidacy. "I've been calling her Madame President for a long time," Meeks said. New York civil rights activist Al Sharpton says he is considering another presidential run and used a recent interview with the Associated Press to make clear he's not that impressed with Obama. "If we're talking about the urban agenda, can you tell me anybody else in the field who's representing that right now?" Sharpton asked. He praised Edwards for talking about poverty issues, but left out Obama. "Right now we're hearing a lot of media razzle-dazzle," Sharpton said. "I'm not hearing a lot of meat, or a lot of content."

Now the article does state he's go the support of Rangel,Lewis and Jackson aka the Big Three Civil Rights guys, but it's interesting about the real story. Whites want to get past slavery and segregation, Blacks want someon to represent them, and they are a core group of Democratic politics. Talk about the Shakespearen Tragedy effect.

http://www.time.com/...  This I felt was a nice contrast peice to the current Rolling Stone article on him-the one with John Maher on the cover.


Comments



Poorly researched article (DukieDem - 2/13/2007 11:46:53 AM)
The Time article has one monster flaw - claiming that Obama has taken a 'cautious' position on Iraq when he has a Senate resolution to remove troops by next year.

I also find the Dean comparison somewhat flawed - the love for Dean was a movement, the love for Obama is the man. Plus, as a frontrunner who was deemed so 'dangerous' to the establishment, Dean was the focus of attack ads coming from our side and a really weak ad campaign in Iowa (Crashing the Gate covered this pretty well).

I'll admit some of my bias towards Obama. While I don't think he can rely on overwhelming numbers in the black community due to the Clintons, his numbers will rise as his name recognition increases.



Early primary states (JPTERP - 2/13/2007 1:49:20 PM)
To the extent that white guilt and black resentment come into play, white guilt should trump black resentment in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. 

As far as South Carolina goes, I think this could be a factor, but it's impossible to say.

In the big scheme of things most people will be weighing in factors other than a candidate's skin color, his ethnic heritage, or the "weird name" factor.  The skin color, ethnic heritage, and "weird name" will hurt Obama most with the type of people who would be reluctant to vote for a Democrat to begin with.

There has been a ton of enthusiasm for Obama in New Hampshire, Iowa, and within his home state of Illinois, so on balance I'd say his prospects are pretty good.