Obama Walks A Tricky Racial Line

Democratic Candidate Woos Blacks But Doesn't Want "Black Candidate" Label

(AP)  Barack Obama is walking a tricky racial line, trying to excite black support in the South without getting tagged as "the black candidate" and scaring off anybody else.

At a spaghetti dinner in the basement of a black church this week, he told a cheering crowd the civil rights movement started from the bottom up, with marches and boycotts. "That's how change comes," he said, linking black civil rights to his own campaign slogan.

But here in South Carolina, which has its Democratic primary Saturday, he also says over and over that color doesn't matter.

The same day as the church dinner, he told an audience at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, "If I came to you and I had polka dots but you were convinced that I was going to put more money in your pockets and help you pay for college and keep America safe, you'd say, 'OK, I wish he didn't have polka dots, but I'm still voting for him."'

A new McClatchy/MSNBC poll holds warning signs for Obama. He leads Hillary Rodham Clinton in South Carolina, but his support among white Democrats fell in one week from 20 percent to a mere 10 percent after race became more of an issue in the campaign.

Blacks comprise large portions of the Democratic electorate in Deep South states, and they could help Obama win a handful of primaries, including South Carolina's. Indeed, after the results are in Saturday night, he's heading to Macon, Ga., and then on to Alabama on Sunday for campaigning.

But the more Obama is seen through a racial lens, the more it might hamper him in other, bigger states, especially those where voters might be unaccustomed or unwilling to support black candidates.

Clinton's campaign isn't interested in helping him resolve that situation.

Her strategists deny any effort to stir the racial debate, but they say they believe the fallout has had the effect of marking Obama as "the black candidate," something he has worked to avoid.

Bill Clinton reminded a South Carolina audience this week, even as he linked Obama and Hillary Clinton as historic candidates.

"They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender," he said. "That's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here."

Taking a softer tone, he said Friday in Spartanburg that "we have the largest percentage of Americans we've ever had who are literally aching to live in a post-racial future." People's backgrounds are important, he said, and we "celebrate them but believe that our common humanity matters more."

Obama was asked Thursday if he thought the Clintons were trying, to his detriment, to depict him as the black candidate.

"I'll let the Clintons speak to what their strategy is going to be," he said coolly.

As for his own campaign, he said his public career has been "based on the idea that we're all in it together, and that black, white, Hispanic, Asian, all of us share common dreams, common fears, and common concerns."

That approach, he said, won him votes "across the board" in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and will elsewhere.

Still, former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, who is supporting Obama, said he believes the Illinois senator will win Saturday in part because "black turnout will be higher than people expect." It might hit 55 percent of eligible black voters, he said, strikingly impressive for a primary election.

Obama, the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, must juggle race-related matters that sometimes seem to conflict. He must convince blacks that America is ready to elect someone like him, so their votes for him will not be wasted and their hopes dashed. At the same time, he says voters can embrace him without regard to color.

The racial minefields haven't kept him from having fun with heavily black audiences in South Carolina this week.

The Harvard Law School graduate sometimes playfully breaks into vernacular, which seems to amuse him and his audiences greatly.

"I need you to grab Cousin Pookie to vote," he told a crowd in Kingstree on Thursday. "I need you to get Ray-Ray to vote."

At a similar rally in Dillon, Obama said Hillary Clinton was ducking the need to shore up Social Security. "There are some things that aren't right," he said, "and some things that just ain't right. And that ain't right!"

James Thrower, a federal employee from Sumter, was among the black voters charmed by Obama this week.

"In the beginning of this campaign, I didn't think America was ready" to elect a black president, Thrower, 50, said after one rally. "Now I do."

"This country needs some fresh blood," he said.

Both Clintons, campaigning separately, have wooed black and white supporters in South Carolina this week. An event Wednesday in Kingstree underscored the tension and suspicions animating the rivalry.

After fielding questions from an audience of about 200, Bill Clinton called on a black man standing near the stage. The man said he was a pastor and told Clinton that "black America is voting for Obama because he's black." He said Democrats are in a dangerous position because if Obama wins the nomination, voters will elect a Republican in November. "They're not ready for a black president," he said.

Several black audience members nodded and said, "That's right."

"I have to tell you I hope you're not right," Clinton responded.

He said that despite the "mean things" said about him "in the Obama camp this week," he would support the Illinois senator if he is nominated.

[gunownerdan]

Barack Obama will actually fight for the rights of DANGEROUS CRIMINALS to SUE YOU if they get themselves hurt after breaking into your home! On the other hand he does not believe you have a right to protect yourself, your family, and your property from harm!
Both Obama and Clinton will say law-abiding citizens should not be trusted to own common handguns, rifles, and shotguns while they both rely on armed guards who carry fully automatic MACHINE GUNS every single day!

"How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual ... as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of."
- Suzanna Gratia-Hupp

www.a-human-right.com

[pilgrimsway-2009]

There is a thing about taking a calculated risk on programs etc. But to buck the trend and say all for change is not an entrepreneur%u2019s way of addressing a need. I do not know if you personally been in companies that adopted this change theory I have. Let me tell you in every case known to me and in online data these companies have ended up ruined!

[obama1289]

Obama supporters watch the video, talk about tears coming to your eyes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jPev5sEdTjg

[candide777]

OBAMA-CLINTON ''08

CLINTON-OBAMA ''08

They can''t do it alone, so let''s hope they have the wisdom to come together.

[greatdrivew]

FROM THE ARTICLE: "Barack Obama is walking a tricky racial line, trying to excite black support in the South without getting tagged as ''the black candidate'' and scaring off anybody else."

The above quote is overtly racist. I can''t believe the Associated Press and CBS publish such trash. In one hundred years people will look back and read articles like this and shake their heads with disbelief.

As for Barack, he''s not walking a racial line. He''s simply walking, and the masses are following.

[terrorislam6]

WHAT COUNTRY DOES BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA PLEDGE TO?

Obama Disrespects U.S. Flag!

Obama: No Hand on Heart for National Anthem
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/10/20/obama-no-hand-heart-pledge-either-will-msm-notice
http://bobmccarty.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/forget-lapel-pins-obama-disrespects-us-flag/
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/21/silent_gesture_gold_medalist_tommie_smith

[curtishill08]

I am writing tonight out of pure frustration, not because I am a Hillary Clinton supporter and Barack Obama just won a primary that he was expected to win, but because of the exhaustive media attention that''s been given to race. Not the presidential race which is what we should really be focusing on, but the ethnicity of the candidates. I watched over two hours of election coverage tonight and 80% or more of what was discussed revolved around which racial segments of the population are supporting which candidate and how much of that support is contingent upon the ethnicity of their chosen candidate. It left me asking one question; Seriously?
Read the rest and tell me what you think at my blog www.curtishill.blogspot.com

[eddynewhope]

LOL. Hillary could be the SECOND Clinton to get impeached should she effectively sleaze and lie her way into the White House. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw

[socrates392]

There''''s nothing tricky about race. Its a dead issue.

Posted by thebigleagu1 at 04:38 PM : Jan 26, 2008

Tell that to CBS NEWS!!!

[realpatriot1]

trapbreak,

How do you know what he''s saying in front of black audiences? Are the crowds being racially screened? Are you stalking him?

MG220,

Micro & Macro perspective? One extreme(Bush) yo another(Obama)? Tha''s a whole lot of words that say nothing.

[cbs4me3]

What is the saying, "Ye shall reap what ye sow." Well, Obama made this a race issue. The great orator talks out of both sides of his mouth. He ought to have had enough sense to know this would not only backfire, but backfire big time. His likely win in SC will not translate to victory on Super Tuesday. This white male will join the sisterhood on Super Tuesday and bring victory to Hillary because she has the experience to deal with the serious issues facing this Nation.

[oldabeeagle]

Democrats, Republicans, and independents all respect and admire Barack Obama. However, they all LOATH Billary. I would gladly vote for Gore, Obama, Edwards, Kuccunich, or many other candidates. However, I will never vote for Billary again.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/31/040531fa_fact1

[mg1220]

[Posted by socrates392 at 01:20 PM : Jan 26, 2008 Thank you for the compliment, unfortunately I''m not an insider.

[Posted by realpatriot1 at 01:13 PM : Jan 26, 2008 I believe they are supported by reasons and facts. I look at the micro details and form a macro perspective. No president can be perfect but America cannot go from one extreme (GWBush) to another extreme (BHObama). The experienced person can fail and there is greater probability that an inexperienced person would fail.

[one_american]

WASHINGTON (CNN) %u2014 John Kerry, the Democratic Party''s 2004 nominee for president, took aim at Bill Clinton Friday, telling the National Journal the former president does "not have a license to abuse the truth."

The Massachusetts senator, who endorsed Barack Obama''s White House bid earlier this month, said Clinton''s criticisms of the Illinois senator have been "over the top," and suggested the former president is getting "frantic."

Targeting Clinton''s recent spate of attacks on Obama, Kerry said, "I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened. %u2026I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it''s been over the top.

"I think it''s very unfortunate, but I think the voters can see through that," Kerry added. "When somebody''s coming on strong and they are growing, people get a little frantic, and I think people have seen this sort of franticness in the air, if you will."


What John Kerry is REALLY trying to say is what everyone else has known for a long, long time - THE CLINTONS ARE PATHOLOGICAL LIARS.

[l00ker]

I totally disagree; besides, Barack may as well go ahead and drink the anti-freeze, before he accepts the role of Hillary''s VP and destroy his political future. Plus, he might end up on one of those Ron Brown plane rides.

[socrates392]

Posted by MG1220 at 01:16 PM : Jan 26, 2008

Did you cut and paste that out of a press release for the Clinton campaign? You write like a political insider. No offense.

[pepperwood2]

Obama Walks A Tricky Racial Line - Maybe if the Press is so infatuated with playing the Race Card, maybe they should ask Hilliary the same question since its always been part of the Clintons'' game plan.

Come on now - Can''t the Media come up with something that We as Americans would like to know. Maybe where these candidates stand on the important issues facing American today?

Save the Race Card for Reverend Jackson, Sharpton, & Young. That''s what the Democratic National Committee hired them for. I''m sure Reverend Jackson''s Rainbow Coalition will get into this soon enough.

[mg1220]

It is not a "dynasty" to have another Clinton back in the White House. It is a necessity. I like Obama for VICE President. He would work wonders to prosper America AFTER Hillary has worked her brilliance to take America back on track to fiscal responsibility, economic stability, and international respectability. Sometimes, it takes a really wise man and true leader to recognize humility and right timing so more and better things can be achieved for America not just for the moment but for the long term.Beyond personalities - It would be more universally significant to elect the first woman president of the strongest nation in the world. Why? because gender transcends beyond race and culture.

[l00ker]

Some folks, black and white are voting for Obama merely cause he''''s black. Their knee-jerk defense of Obama and facile interpretation of any criticism of Obama as being racist, is self-righteous, ignorant and arrogant. I am an Hispanic Democrat who in 1988 voted for Jesse Jackson in the primaries, not because he was a minority male like me, but because he spoke out, at least in those days, more eloquently for the voiceless and powerless. Now my man is John Edwards, and it doesn''''t matter to me that he''''s not minority male. He''''s genuine, humble and he speaks from the heart about issues that really concern minorities as well as all Americans. Edwards as most black and Hispanic Americans had humble roots. Obama is son of a white mother who had an attraction toward non-American men and father who came from the upperclass of the African nation of Kenya which oppressed the other people of that nation. Obama unlike 95% of American blacks cannot trace in his genes the oppression brought about by years of slavery, segregation and discrimination. In fact he has been favored by upper class American whites precisely because he is the product of a foreign-born elite African and not a son of an African American male.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by hopetrumps at 12:50 PM : Jan 26, 200



Also, he panders, flip-flops, back tracks, regrets and constatly tries to feel which direction that his wind is blowing.

[realpatriot1]

MG1220,

Your arguments are not entirely supported by reason or facts.

Crying recession and teeror attack is fear-mongering. You accuse Obama of this but offer no examples.

We amy be in a recession, we don''t know yet. We may be talking ourselves into one and Clinton-style "fear-mongering may be part of the reason.

The idea being "floated" that Clinton would spell defeat for the Democrats is based upon 2 years of consistent independent polling by dozens of organizations. The pattern is clear. She is the love of partison hard core Dems and no one else. It''s real simple; Dems don''t win without turning red to blue.

What indications do you have of bipartison results in the Senate? I can tell you that whatever it is will not match up to Johm Mccain''s record in that regard and it certainly isn''t matching up to bipartison support anywhere.

Democrats need to be honest about themselves and what we''re offering the American people. If we don''t, that will be the real "Fairy Tale".