Finally, the most singular disputation of the current U.S. Presidential race is finally put forth into the wide open as Associated Press reports how even a substantial portion of the white voters from the Democratic Party could turn away from Sen. Barack Obama and vote for Sen. John McCain instead. I am actually a bit in amazement now about how the early polls show Sen. Obama still toe-to-toe with Sen. McCain, on equal footing, despite the many negativity of the present Bush Administration, the unpopularity of Pres. George W. Bush, the costly Iraq War, the current economic downturn in US economy and the serious Palin debacle.
The answer is merely one thing, and it’s none other than race; just as I thought it would be, or perhaps many of us had thought it would be.
Statistics shows that a third of the white voters from the Democratic Party have deep resentments about the black American community, seeing them as being "lazy," "violent," and responsible for their own troubles.
Stamford University in fact has just made a study determining how the number of white voters that might turn away from Sen. Obama could even be larger than the margin of the 2004 US Presidential Elections, where Pres. Bush defeated the then Democratic Party nominee Sen. John Kerry by just 3 percentage point among popular votes and by mere 34 electoral votes of 538.
If the surveys remains as close as this until November then Sen. Obama might just miss the train to the White House as where a third white Democrats could remain anonymous at present and then turn away from him when election day comes.
And that tells us, as many of us still suspected, that America still has problems with race, especially with the African-American sector, fifty years after segregation in America had ended.
Granted that many white voters may turn away from Obama simply because of his race but I do not believe that this is something unique to Americans. I seriously doubt if a majority of Filipinos would support a Filipino candidate for President if he or she was a Muslim or a Filipino-Chinese even if he/she was brilliant.
Discrimination? Maybe. But Barack Obama would have helped his candidacy more if he had a more substantial resume to back it up. Unfortunately, his resume's quite thin and in fact it's the thinnest for anybody's who has ever ran for US President. He hasn't really paid his dues yet as a politician and a lot of Americans are of that view. No doubt that race is indeed a factor but it becomes more of a factor if someone does not have the sufficient experience and skill to convince voters that he's the real deal.
Comment by Panaderos — September 21, 2008 @ 10:41 am
I don't follow the US elections closely but I root for Obama simply because he's a Democrat and that he's not for the war in Iraq.
Comment by Abaniko — September 21, 2008 @ 10:58 am
The poll simply shows that the Americans aren't about to give away the country to someone they don't really know.
Granting that Obama is dead serious in his pitch for change, you and I know that pure determination doesn't always come out victorious.
His chances would be far better of if he chose Hilary Clinton as running mate. But again, he probably didn't relish the idea of Bill dipping his finger on the pie all the time. Oh well, what do I really know about politics
Comment by bw — September 23, 2008 @ 12:45 am
I am not a specialist of Politics but I wish Obama wins because he's against the horror and bloody war like Abaniko has just said. And because it would probably a way to prove that there's really no discrimination between white and black. May the best candidate win
!
Comment by haze — September 23, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
It's all about race if you ask me. Having said that, I doubt if the white majority would hand over the keys to the oval office to a black candidate, even if he is half-white himself. The reality is that, most white voters, particularly those from the bible belt, are still closet racists when it comes to politics. Still, I hope Obama wins...
Comment by snglguy — September 24, 2008 @ 9:31 am
To Panaderos: I was initially thinking that way but then, Sen. Obama just became the first ever black American presidential nominee, there's great strides in race discrimination in America. But it seems, not enough for Sen. Obama.
Now, perhaps the Dems could play on the age of Sen. McCain, being too old for comfort. That's his greatest downside.
Comment by Major Tom — September 24, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
To Abaniko: His anti-war stance is something he strongly leans on in this campaign although I doubt if that'll be a tad realistic than just a lip service. With the Iraq War so deep and so expensive now, he'll be so hardpress to keep his words if ever.
Comment by Major Tom — September 24, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
To BW: reminds me somehow about Al Gore being that patriot for change kind of guy, invoking at almost every point he made; but that seem to have did him in, being overacting about iut, to the point of being irresponsive and unmeaningful. Sen. Obama got to be cautious about being overly focused on his "change" rhetorics.
Comment by Major Tom — September 24, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
To BW: reminds me somehow about Al Gore being that patriot for change kind of guy, invoking at almost every point he made; but that seem to have did him in, being overacting about iut, to the point of being irresponsive and unmeaningful. Sen. Obama got to be cautious about being overly focused on his "change" rhetorics.
Comment by Major Tom — September 24, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
To haze: His win would prove that (better racerelations in US) in a very big way. I hope he would too, actually.
Comment by Major Tom — September 24, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
To sngl: He won the Dems party nomination and that's a great feat and would somehow make us believe that a black American could actually become the US President. There's still good reasons to believe for all Sen. Obama's supporters.
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Comment by H. — September 25, 2008 @ 5:27 am
If only, I'll definitely vote for Obama.
"Out with the old, in with the new"
and just because I can't stand Sarah Palin.
saying that, good thing I'm not American
Comment by pining — September 25, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
"Statistics shows that a third of the white voters from the Democratic Party have deep resentments about the black American community, seeing them as being “lazy,” “violent,” and responsible for their own troubles."
This is what I'm really afraid of, Major Tom -- that America may not be all that ready for a black U.S. President.
Hillary Clinton stood a better chance of beating McCain. But then again, no one can really predict the outcome of a U.S. presidential election. Who knows? Obama may still clinch it.
Comment by eric aka senor enrique — September 29, 2008 @ 3:07 pm