A prominent union leader on Tuesday blamed racism for Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) failure to build a big lead over GOP rival Sen. John McCain.
Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said many workers are considering voting for McCain (R-Ariz.) because of his military service and status as a hero of the Vietnam War.
McEntee said several union members had approached him, saying they could not vote for Obama because of his race. He also said some local union presidents have failed to support Obama out of fear.
“There are some local union presidents that are afraid — yes, that’s the word, afraid — to hand out literature for Barack Obama,” said McEntee.
McEntee said union members need to consider Obama’s voting record on labor issues, not his race.
“You can’t vote for Barack Obama because he’s black? That’s bulls—t. Absolute bulls—t,” said McEntee to a standing ovation from the crowd.
I agree with Mr. McEntee, it is BS. Obviously there are any number of reasons not to vote for Obama that have absolutely nothing to do with race - like his thin resume and liberal ideology for starters.
However, and this seems to be a building theme, it appears that Democrats are already seeking a reason to excuse an upcoming defeat. The official Democrat reason, as usual, won't have a thing to do with their message or their ideology. Nope it will be all about race.
Well here's something to remember - the right isn't going to vote for Obama whether he's white, black or purple. He's not their candidate.
So if Barack Obama loses because of his race, it will be because those Democrat voters - that's right, Democrat voters - who find his race problematic above all else didn't vote for him. Is that the BS that Mr. McEntee is talking about?
Having heard my mother express a very firm opinion that "this country can’t afford a black president" roughly thirty years ago, I’m less skeptical. This from a woman who has been a lifelong Democrat, and whose views on things like healthcare and Iraq are considerably to the left not only of mine, but Obama’s. The only rational explanation she can give for this assertion is that if elected Obama would give federal jobs to too many blacks.
If she follows through with her current plans, she won’t vote for McCain—she doesn’t like him at all—but she will stay home. She would have jumped through hoops (or at least over and under her walker) in order to vote for Hillary.
Anecdotal drop in the bucket, of course, but I suspect she’s not the only elderly white Democratic voter who feels that way.
I don’t care why people are not supporting Obama. Everyone has their biases - some are bad, some are good. We all have them. Blacks are voting for Obama because of his race - is that good? Of course not, but that is their bias, and they are free to use it. No one is criticizing them for doing that. Somehow, only whites are bad for allegedly not voting for Obama, and Dems are saying it is because of his race.
The fact that we keep hearing this refrain tells me that 1) Democrats are truly frightened that this election is sliding away from them, and they don’t know what to do to stop the bleeding, and 2) they are wholly prepared to blame "whitey" if Obama loses.
I told someone last year that we should all pray that Obama does not get his party’s nomination, because if he loses, race relations in this country will be set back 100 years. Blacks will be really p.o.’d that Obama lost, and I don’t know what theirs, or others’, reaction will be to that.
Sorry if this all sounds racist, but it is how a lot of people are feeling.
Thanks to Wesiberg, the scales have fallen from my eyes! The white Democrats who tried to block Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supereme Court—they must have been racists! What other explanation is there?
If people don’t want to vote for Obama because he’s black, I have no problem with that. People have to have reasons for what they do. I’ll admit to being an ageist—I’m not voting for McCain because he’s too old. Plus every time he talks he confuses me with someone else—I am not his friend.
Der Speigel gives an even better illustration of the argument that no matter why you vote against Obama, it will be because he is black:
Now, though, it’s McCain against Obama, Republican against Democrat, old against young — and, more than anything else, white against black. McCain, of course, hasn’t broached the race issue directly. But indirectly, the argument goes like this: To be white means to be like John McCain — patriotic, bedecked with medals and honors, self-sacrificing and a hero. To be black means to be like Barack Obama — eager for the spotlight, similar to a Hollywood actor, egocentric, flippant and lacking truly American values. White America is — subtly and adroitly — being mobilized against black America.
On the same day that the Obama campaign was sprucing up Michelle’s values for popular consumption, the Texas Republican Party released an ad that showed Obama’s nice home in Chicago and a picture of his half-brother in Kenya standing by a shanty. The explicit argument of the ad was that Obama says he wants to help American families but does nothing to help his own. The implicit message: he’s BLACK and his brother is an AFRICAN.
