Hi!

Haven't posted here in a while...not really planning on posting here much anymore. So yeah, hi!

Obama and Hidden Racism - What's in a name?

I was happy last week when Barack Obama won the Democratic primary. I think that he is the best thing for our country after 8 disastrous years under George W. Bush. My excitement has been dampened slightly, though, by stories like this one which show that while Obama's message resonates with younger voters like me, he's still got a long way to go with older voters.

I don't think our country is ready for a black president," Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. "A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania."

Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. "It has nothing to do with race," she said.

This seems to be a common theme in stories that explore the older generations' attitudes towards Obama. Few of them are willing to admit that racism plays a large part in their willingness to consider Obama as president. But although they claim to be colorblind, they say that their less enlightened neighbors might have a problem with his race:

In interviews with 40 Pennsylvanians across three counties that Clinton won by big margins, only one person indicated opposition to Obama simply because of his race. But several others said their neighbors might do so.

So if they don't have a problem with his race (according to them), what reasons do they give for not supporting him?

Obama "just hasn't impressed me," he said over midmorning coffee with a friend at Denny's. "His middle name bothers me a lot." That name is Hussein.

His. Middle. Fucking. Name. What the hell? And this middle name, which Obama didn't choose for himself, of course, bothers this potential voter a lot? Are people really that stupid? Other folks give muddled, nonspecific answers:

"He just doesn't appeal to me, and not because of race, definitely," she said in an interview in which race had not been mentioned.

Such comments are all too familiar to Richard Akers, who phoned dozens of prospective Pennsylvania voters as an Obama campaign volunteer in April. Democrats often explained their opposition to Obama with "excuses that were not rational or valid, as I saw it," said the retired bank director from Johnstown, another hotbed of Clinton support.

"To me, it was almost a code," Akers said. "'He doesn't wear a flag pin.' It seemed like code for 'He's not one of us.'"

I think Akers hit the nail on the head. People like this can't give any real reasons for disliking Obama, and they feel like they'll be judged for coming out and saying that they don't want to vote for a black man. So when put on the spot, they're "just not impressed" with him (despite his almost universally-praised oratorical skills and tact) or that he "just doesn't appeal to me."

Then, of course, there are the people who don't even bother to hide their bigotry:

Robert Miller, 72, who lives in a government subsidized room in Bedford, said the Constitution should be amended so it will "not let any colored people run for the White House." He seemed unsure about his voting record in recent elections, but vividly recalled voting for Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

Dixie Pebley of Johnstown, 71, explained her distaste for Obama, saying, "black doesn't bother me, but Muslim does." When reminded that Obama is a Christian, she conceded the point, but added: "He was born Muslim and raised Muslim, that's enough for me. He just scares me to death."

These are the types of quotes that drive me nuts! I realize it may be elitist of me to think this way, but how is it that people who are so clueless about the candidates or so blinded by racism are able vote? My stomach churns at the thought of people like this flocking to McCain because he's white, like them.

There is a silver lining to this cloud, thankfully. The article notes that it's very likely that a lot of Clinton supporters who told pollsters that they'd vote for McCain if Clinton lost might be bluffing:

James Antoniono, a Greensburg lawyer and veteran Democratic activist who worked for Clinton, said many Clinton backers will support Obama this fall, including some who told exit pollsters they would not.

"It's one thing to come out of the voting booth and say that," Antoniono said. "It's another thing when you're faced with a choice in the general election."

A retired truck driver familiar with the Pennsylvania region echos that sentiment:

Obama's race "will hurt him" in many places, said Weimer, who follows the campaign intensely on cable TV. "But when push comes to shove, people around here want change."

That might include some white Democrats who publicly criticize Obama just to fit in with their neighbors, he said. "Once they go into the voting booth," he said, "who knows?"

I can only hope that Weimer and Antoniono are right, and that those folks who just can't get over Obama's name or can't overcome their hidden racism don't end up giving this crucial election to John McCain.

Is it over yet?

Holy crap, could this Democratic primary season go on any longer?

Well, it looks like the madness might be over soon. Although it might not be the nice, tidy, unifying ending that most (reasonable) Democrats are hoping for. The beginning of the end started yesterday when there were reports that Hillary Clinton planned to suspend her campaign today and effectively concede victory to Barack Obama. Those reports were quickly followed by denials from the Clinton camp:

Terry McAuliffe rejected as "100 percent" incorrect an Associated Press report that Clinton is preparing to acknowledge Obama has the delegates to win the nomination Tuesday night as the five-month Democratic primary process comes to a close.

Obama "doesn't have the numbers today, and until someone has the numbers the race goes on," McAuliffe told CNN.

However, the AP is reporting now that Obama does, in fact, have the numbers.

I've been fairly silent during this whole thing (my most recent politics-related post was March 18) but now that it's drawing to a close I have a few things to say...

• FINALLY! Holy crap, could this thing have been more drawn out (the answer is yes, Clinton could've - and still can - made this thing last until the convention in late August. But even still...man, it seems like this went on forever)
• The rabid Clinton's supporters (note that I'm not talking about reasonable Clinton supporters who wanted her to win but can still see the big picture) need to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that the most important fight is in November, and that if they truly believe in what Hillary stood for, they need to support their party's nominee even if it's not Hillary. Either that, or they need to admit that they're racist dumbshits.
• I'm glad Obama won. His campaign seemed by far the more genuine, positive, and hopeful one and I think he's got a great mind and temperament to be a very good president.
• Hillary Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP. Personally, I think this would be a pretty incredible ticket. But I believe in the past that Obama has said he would be looking elsewhere for a VP candidate. I can see the pros and cons of having Hillary as his running mate, and I think that whatever decision he makes here will work out fine.

Anyway, I've been kinda out of it in terms of blogging for a bit, but I felt that this was worth posting about because it (hopefully) finally clears the road for the Democratic nominees to start concentrating their efforts on beating McCain in November rather than bashing one another.

Best news evar!

That's right, folks! This week's downloadable song for Rock Band is "Still Alive", the song sung by your homicidal computer guide GlaD0s during the credits after you beat the video game Portal (which is a very creative, mind-bending puzzle game). And to make the news even cooler, the song is going to be free! Rock Band is already the best party game I've ever owned, and this makes the game that much more fun!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the song (and don't mind hearing it before you get a chance to play or beat Portal - an experience I'd really suggest you have), here's a video of the ending to Portal (the song starts about 57 seconds in):

And yeah, if you've never played Portal then chances are this won't be very thrilling news.

Obama finally speaks about race.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Barack Obama has made it a point to avoid making his race an issue. He hasn't tried to capitalize on it or exploit it to get a few cheap votes (although, as countless political commentary providers have noted, black people do vote for him overwhelmingly regardless of his refusal to play the race card). However, after enduring subtle and not-so-subtle attacks about his race, Obama has decided to speak out about the issues of race of racism both in this campaign and in America in general. If you have a free 40 minutes (37 minutes, 39 seconds to be exact), I'd suggest checking it out:

Obama supporters are...

...latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing trust fund babies. At least according to International Association of Machinists union boss and Hillary Clinton supporter Tom Buffenbarger (note: the linked story misquotes him and says he used the term "Lactaid-drinking", but it was actually "latte-drinking"). Not only that, but he claims that Obama is a "Silver-tongued orator", a "Man in love with the microphone" (ironic, once you see the video - which I've been so far unsuccessful in finding online), a "Trained thespian", a "Janus, the two-faced Roman god", a "Harvard Law Review editor", a "Shadow boxer", a "Poet", and has "Great footwork". Can you smell the desperation from this guy?


You stay classy, Tom Buffenbarger!

PS - My wife and I both drive a Prius. Guess who we voted for, Tommy-boy!

The Democratic primary race is far from over.

Whereas Super Tuesday helped John McCain all but wrap up the Republican nomination (much to the chagrin of neo-conservative talking heads), it did no such favor to either of the remaining Democratic candidates. In fact, CNN reports that following yesterday's voting the two Democratic candidates are separated by only 0.4% in terms of overall votes:

Just how sharply are Democrats divided between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?

Of all the votes cast on Super Tuesday for the two candidates nationwide, they are only separated by 0.4 of a percentage point.

By midday Wednesday, 14,645,638 votes were reported cast for either Obama or Clinton on Tuesday. Clinton had won 7,350,238 of those votes (50.2 percent) while Obama captured 7,295,400 votes (49.8 percent).

Most precincts had reported 100 percent of their votes by Wednesday, though some districts had yet to complete their count. Many of those votes are in in New Mexico, where CNN has yet to declare a winner, and in California, where a sizeable number of absentee votes have yet to be tallied.

Despite her lead in the popular vote, some news organizations actually show Barack Obama as having the edge in delegates at the moment (but again, by a very slight margin). In addition, Obama appears to have a big financial advantage (the Obama campaign has a large reserve of funds to continue campaigning, whereas the Clinton campaign's staffers are actually going without pay to keep the campaign afloat). Then again, wasn't John McCain's campaign bankrupt and in disarray just a few months ago?

Yup, it looks like the Democratic nomination is shaping up to be quite a fight, and one that doesn't look like it'll be settled for another month at least (and possibly even into the DNC in late August).