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| Working-class whites are angry with the Democrats for lots of reasons. Race is not one of them |
| 2010-10-26 |
| If such voters have now changed their minds, the reason is not that Mr Obama is black—he was black in 2008. And for all its momentous symbolism, his election is not the most recent evidence that America has turned the page on race. In June, in South Carolina of all states, Tim Scott, a black Republican, defeated the son of the segregationist Strom Thurmond in a primary, and is on his way to a seat in the House. Compare that to 1983, when a disgraceful number of Democrats in Chicago voted for the Republican rather than send the black Harold Washington to city hall. All of that has gone. The electorate may be divided by race, but no longer mainly because of race. Some of Mr Obama’s enemies have tried to harness pockets of bigotry by painting him in various ways as un-American. But outright racism in politics is now beyond the pale and will probably have little to do with the coming rejection of the Democrats by the white working class. A wrecked economy and the feeling that their president is out of touch are reason enough. It has, after all, happened before. In two short years from 1992 to 1994, when Bill Clinton was president, white working-class support for the Republicans soared like a rocket from 47% to 61%. Nobody blamed that on skin colour. |
| Posted by:eltoroverde |
| #5 Americans = Amerikans versus * DER SPIEGEL > [France]SARKOZY'S "PERFECT STORM": FRENCH FURY GOES BEYOND PENSIONS. IIUC ARTIC = French mainstream perceived perennial GOVT-PUBLIC CORRUPTION, + DECLINE IN FRENCH DEMOCRACY = DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, as seeming unstopped = suppor? by the SARKOZY ADMIN. FRENCH POF SARKEY facing the beginnings of a POPULAR UPRISING??? MAHA-RUSHIE LIMBAUGHIAN "HISTOIRE'" REPEATING ITSELF, i.e. FRENCH REVOLUTION II = AMERICAN REVOLUTION II = ROBESPIERRE/JACOBINS II = RISE OF " OWG-NWO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE". OWG MADONNA, OWG PAULA "DELILAH/BATHSHEBA" ABDUL, .........@ETAL, HORDE BOYZ + JEDI LIGHTSABER BABES??? But I digress... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-10-26 20:19 |
| #4 The race card had an expiration date on it that has long since past. It has as much mojo as calling someone Irish. Of sure, it still upsets a few who still painfully recall what a slur it once was, but nearly eveyone else under the age of 50 just views the user of the race card as old and lame. And I take issue with the headline. It is not just the working class whites who are angry with Democrats. It is pretty much everyone - EXCEPT liberal elites (those once awkward and unpopular kids who grew up feeling more important by their group hatred of republicans) and the easily fooled - who are angry with the democrats for throwing gazillions of our hard earned dollars down the rat hole of corruption. They keep selling the same old hair tonic that hasn't worked for 100 years now. Most everyone is wise to their tricks, but they think if they can just come up with the right |
| Posted by: Martini 2010-10-26 13:39 |
| #3 In two short years from 1992 to 1994, when Bill Clinton was president, white working-class support for the Republicans soared like a rocket from 47% to 61%. Nobody blamed that on skin colour. Not so! The early nineties were when the narrative of the “Angry White Male” really began to take root. One of the core tenants of identity politics is to conflate “class” and “race”. And a key tactic is the ability to subtlety vacillate between the two concepts in order to advance a policy. Case in point; at that time liberals argued that the “Welfare to Work” proposals would disproportionately affect African Americans. However, when it was revealed that actually more Whites were on welfare assistance they quickly changed tack. With brazen demagoguery they then insinuated that “welfare” was Whitey's code word for wealth distribution to Blacks. What we see today is not nearly as subtle. It is shameless exploitation of the Presidents race. Not by his critics but by his supporters. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2010-10-26 12:27 |
| #2 Obama will still be black in 2012. And the unemployed who voted for him in 2008 will still (by and large) be unemployed. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-10-26 11:46 |
| #1 If such voters have now changed their minds, the reason is not that Mr Obama is black—he was black in 2008. They are simply going through "buyers remorse". |
| Posted by: WolfDog 2010-10-26 11:13 |