Originally posted by onetruesaxon
If his name was John Smith and he was a white middle class american I dont think there would be half as much animosity towards him as there is. As
much as people reject it and don't like to admit it race is going to play a big issue in this election. After all he is different to the
stereotypical candidate and people dont like what they cant understand.
See, I disagree completely. I think that the vast majority of discussion (whether MSM, online, or with coworkers) make no mention of his race.
More importantly, "polite" people give him a pass, and don't really critique his candidacy, because they don't want to seem like racists.
By way of comparison, think of the calumny heaped on Palin, based on "who she is." In many ways, her liabilities complement or mirror Obama's own.
But no one will talk about Obama's shortcomings in detail, again, for fear of looking like racists. So, Palin has already gotten much more scrutiny
as a new white female politician that Obama has, as a new black male politician.
This will hurt him severely in the actual voting, because many voters still harbor grave doubts about the policies and institutions he's connected
to, but they don't dare say so for fear of being labeled racist.
So, there will be a lot of unspoken, unadressed questions in the minds of many voters.
I think it could cost him as much as 5-8 pts. in the polls. Which would mean him losing some largely anglo "swing states" and bringing some other
"solid blue" states into the purple camp.
Not saying he will lose; just saying it may be closer than expect, with some upsets for him in purple states.
[edit on 22-10-2008 by dr_strangecraft]