Before the start of the primaries, we were treated to many inches of newsprint and hours of video of political types analyzing whether African American Women would support Clinton or Obama, whether Whites would support Obama and etc. We were subjected to stories of Hilary's choice of clothing and her laugh. Barack's church doctrine and pastor have been scrutinized. There have been no such stories regarding Republican candidates. The closest story has been the NYT article on McCain, and even the core of that story is related to how a lobbyist seemed to have influence over McCain.
Yes, it is 2008, but race, sex, and religion still do matter. Now that the Democratic Primary is down to nominating a Woman or African American, it's starting to set in for some people. It's frightening to some to think that this country might be run by someone that is not White or Male, to that end, they are starting to respond in racist and sexist ways. Read this article about comments made by Gov Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania regarding race.
The media is not helping. The meme is Obama wins states with large African American populations- that's his base, while Clinton wins states with large Blue Collar White populations. Yet, that storyline is not supported by Obama's wins. Check out the Census Bureau's Quick Facts regarding Nebraska- a state that Obama won easily. Nebraska, like Iowa is very White, and very Blue Collar, yet people turned out in huge numbers to support Democrats, and Obama in particular. Yes, Obama won D.C., but he also won Idaho!
When Obama was on 60 Minutes last year, he stated that an Obama Administration would open a dialog with Iran and revamp Healthcare. Instead of criticizing Obama for his positions, Limbaugh, Morgan, Beck and others attacked him for being- 1) too black for white voters, 2) too white for black voters, and 3) being too Muslim for Christians. To argue about his positions and proposed policies would get away from the easy attack line of race and raise the level of political discourse in this country.
Think about it....
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