2008 Woodie Awards
Don't let old ideas win
Get out and vote!
Sarah Viets
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Opinions
I used to embrace Barack Obama's message of hope. I was truly convinced our nation would nominate an African-American man. I actually believed that Obama's message of hope and change could supercede modern day racial categories - or in other words, racially coded language hidden within our vocabulary. Moreover, I actually believed my generation could out-vote the ideas symbolic of our past.
But as we move towards Super Tuesday, the day 22 states casts their votes, my naivety withers away. While Obama's wins in both Iowa and South Carolina rejuvenated my spirit, the decline in support for Obama amongst white voters sends chills down my spine.
I attended an Iowa caucus in Davenport, and Obama supporters and volunteers contended that if Obama could win Iowa, a predominately white state (over 93 percent of the population), Obama could win the Democratic primary, and even more, a national election. And he did. Obama won 33 percent of the white vote while Clinton attracted only 27 percent. Yet in New Hampshire, a liberal leaning state, Obama lost the white vote: 39 percent of white voters chose Clinton while only 36 elected Obama. And in South Carolina, Clinton won the white vote by a near 10 percent lead. So, what happened to Obama's electability?
There's substantial debate about whether or not white voters actually identified Barack Obama as a black man, within and outside the African-American community. Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton is not a stupid woman. She was highly aware of this fact, and she and her campaign strategists knew that in order to save the future of her campaign, Clinton had to remind voters of Obama's skin tone.
The result? Obama lost substantial support amongst white voters and gained momentum within the African-American community. While his support with black voters may have solidified the question about whether or not Obama is black enough, to identify Obama as the black candidate not only reminded white voters of his pigmentation, it also questioned his motives.
But as we move towards Super Tuesday, the day 22 states casts their votes, my naivety withers away. While Obama's wins in both Iowa and South Carolina rejuvenated my spirit, the decline in support for Obama amongst white voters sends chills down my spine.
I attended an Iowa caucus in Davenport, and Obama supporters and volunteers contended that if Obama could win Iowa, a predominately white state (over 93 percent of the population), Obama could win the Democratic primary, and even more, a national election. And he did. Obama won 33 percent of the white vote while Clinton attracted only 27 percent. Yet in New Hampshire, a liberal leaning state, Obama lost the white vote: 39 percent of white voters chose Clinton while only 36 elected Obama. And in South Carolina, Clinton won the white vote by a near 10 percent lead. So, what happened to Obama's electability?
There's substantial debate about whether or not white voters actually identified Barack Obama as a black man, within and outside the African-American community. Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton is not a stupid woman. She was highly aware of this fact, and she and her campaign strategists knew that in order to save the future of her campaign, Clinton had to remind voters of Obama's skin tone.
The result? Obama lost substantial support amongst white voters and gained momentum within the African-American community. While his support with black voters may have solidified the question about whether or not Obama is black enough, to identify Obama as the black candidate not only reminded white voters of his pigmentation, it also questioned his motives.
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Nicholas Hart
posted 2/04/08 @ 8:36 AM CST
I feel one campaign has played the race card more than the other and it is not the one popularized by the media. It has just been hidden into the entire campaign, while the other campaign acknowledges it freely. (Continued…)
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