I live in an extremely conservative area! What I love and hate about this area is that my neighbors don't pull any punches,I can't tell you how many times I've herd the following statement.

"I will never vote for that N Obama"

Truth be told,they would not vote for him if he was white but being a Black/Democrat is a double whammy..

When a friend of mine was asked On The Air if he was prejudiced? "He said yes and I'm proud of it."

Racism does exist in the North country and it's one of the reasons that Obama is not 15 points ahead of McCain.

The D's should have no problem winning this election but the race and fear factors are defiantly in play! Sure..there are other complexities involved here but Fear and a candidates race still matter..especially in nursing homes and they turnout in greater numbers than young voters! If I were advising Obama I would tell him to visit a nursing home in every city to calm their fears. Most would run for cover at the appearance of a black man at the main door and begin hiding the silverware! He needs to address this and other "fear factors" or his run for the presidency will go down as a historic attempt!

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

And how many black people are voting FOR Obama equally making their decision based purely on skin color?...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Without a doubt many Obama voters are voting purely on skin color.How many voted for a white candidate because they had no other choice? Now there IS a choice and many will not pass on that rarest of opportunities least they wait another 200 years.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

So they'll strike while the iron is hot (by which, I mean they'll vote for a candidate based on something no one should ever base their vote on)...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

What you are saying attests to the existence of Obama's bargain.

Obama realizes White America so desperately wants to be free of the spectre of racism that they are willing to pretend race does not exist.

But it does.

The issue of race is alive and real, just as the issue of people's national heritage or their religion is real.

You are to be admired for wanting to make a decision without regard to race but you have to admit that the act of resisting any impulse to judge or choose on the basis of race does not mean the issue of race does not exist.

If it did not exist there would be no headlines celebrating this racial milestone.



The act of resisting any impulse to act on race doesn't mean there aren't racial forces at work.

Just because this cute little pug is resisting the impulse to eat the tasty treats does not mean they do not exist.


Geraldine Ferraro was scorned for speaking an inconvenient and politically incorrect truth.

You and I and millions of others are willing to deny any impulse to judge this man by the color of his skin. (In my case I resist the pull to vote for him simply because I am Black.) But ask yourself when was the last time a nominee had the following characteristics:

On the basis of his actual qualifications - that is, ignoring the racial attraction or motivations described by Steele's description of this unspoken 'bargain' - what recommends him for the job?

Intelligence, charisma, experience as an inner city community organizer.

These qualities might suffice to make him the favorite in a Mayoral contest. But not a contest for the highest office in the land.

So if he is notably devoid of experience and his associations are troubling and his judgment is suspect, why are so many American voters so rabid about him?

I say that even if you can admirably resist judging him on the basis of his skin color you can't deny that the forces of racial politics do exist and that race does play a crucial role in his success so far.

EDIT: Whites are the ones most likely to have subconsciously or deliberately bought into this unspoken bargain and/or be held in thrall by it. Hispanics or Asians feel little or no guilt for slavery or the KKK or Jim Crow.

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Every step taken toward the installment of Sharia law will be justifiable to the person who values appearance more than freedom and democracy.

Exactly..it works both ways.Not everyone who opposes Obama opposes him on the issues alone. I think we can agree on that...

It's kinda like jury nullification,the verdict is not always based on facts and the evidence presented.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

At times this just passes both "ridiculous" and "completely absurd" to the point where even Peter Pan would look at you and think "what kind of craziness are you talking about"...


Suppose we are back in history and we have an occurrence where we have the first black member of a previously all white history.
Like the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Do we note the historic event? Yes.
Does that mean that the reason the black person was admitted was BECAUSE he was black? NO!

People trying to equate others ACKNOWLEDGING the historic landmark with the REASONS FOR the historic landmark are really missing the obvious.
I realize that you're in a rush to slur Obama, but with this step you've moved to attacking his supporters!

People who say Obama would not be here if he was not black are just plain NOT THINKING. Possibly "clueless" would be a better word.
Look at where Obama "came from", and compare that to where he was before the Presidential election.
He has ALREADY made some pretty impressive advancements in his life, yet some want to denigrate and ignore ALL that by simply claiming it's "just cause he's black".

Some people are pushing to denigrate and belittle Obama in some pretty extreme and absurd ways.


It's funny how this is offered as support for the claim that Obama would not be there if he weren't black...
Jesse Jackson WAS black, and he obviously didn't make it.
Obama obviously has MORE going for him than just "being black". I don't know where Ferraro's "loyalties" lie, but I wouldn't be surprised if she were one of those disenfranchised Hillary supporters who cry-cry-cry up a river and want to poison the well just cause they didn't win.

Scratch that. I just googled it. Ferraro was HEAVILY entrenched in with Hillary, and it's probable that she IS suffering from an extreme case of sour grapes.
The funny thing is that if these sour grapes were directed at the Republicans, Bhkad would quickly condemn them.
But because she says something that he likes, albeit for a different motivation, he quotes her and pretends she's automatically credible....

Luckily in this specific case they have the added knowledge that they have a great candidate.

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Talking about music is like dancing about architecture

and an even better VP candidate...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

And your feeling expressed here echoes the feelings of millions of Americans who don't want to be racially blackmailed or held hostage by racial challengers like Jackson or Sharpton who play upon White America's understandable reluctance to be made the innocent victims of crimes of yesteryear.

By supporting an Obama candidacy White America (subconsciously or not) hopes to throw off the sins of bigotry forever.

So that neither Jackson, Sharpton nor any other Black "challenger" type of Black person, will ever be able to play that racial card ever again.

When Whites insist that Blacks get their shit together and stop wallowing in the victimization or "slave" mentality of the past, they will no longer be trumped by the race card. Whites will be able to say, "we elected Obama." No longer will Blacks have any excuses or any supposed moral leverage to use over Whites.

That is a powerful prospect. Except there is a flaw in that thinking.

Blacks NEVER had that power over Whites except that which Whites acknowledged they did.

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Every step taken toward the installment of Sharia law will be justifiable to the person who values appearance more than freedom and democracy.