Kvatch Plays The Race Card
June 04, 2008 By: Kvatch Category: Elections, Politics, Society
The primary fight is over. Senator Obama will be our nominee, and I absolutely plan to vote for him. But do you know why? Do you really want to know why? Well it’s not because he promises change. Every bloody candidate promises that. And…no, it’s not because he was against the war, though that’s very admirable. Frankly, it’s because…
…Senator Barack Obama is Black!!!
Now before you get yourself in a tizzy—screaming at me about reverse racism or how I’ve reduced Obama down to one banal fact—think about this: The one inescapable truth is that Obama’s perspective as president will be different than all who’ve preceded him, a truth that applies equally well to Senator Clinton. These presidential candidates simply aren’t crusty old white guys. Their experience and their outlook are fundamentally different than a Bush, or a Reagan, a Kennedy, or a Johnson.
Whether or not Obama brings change is unimportant. He is change.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am
the fact that he is black is another one of the great things about him. history in the making, and it’s about time! :) nice post for today.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I based my decision on the speech he gave last night. It really struck me as an attempt to pull both sides together.
I really liked Hillary’s speech, but after hearing Obama, I think she should have done more to congratulate him.
I’m really interested to see if she’s gonna try to make this a 3 candidate race… I don’t want it, but it would be interesting (much like I find pro-wrestling feuds interesting).
June 4th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The Johnsons are going to send an angry letter to Governor LePetomane.
I didn’t really get excited, on a gut level, until Obama’s Sunday speech in South Dakota — “Fired up? Ready to go!”
Why did it take me so long? Our TV broke in Feb. 2007, and only replaced it a couple weeks ago, so we have been insulated from the constant CNN-MSNBC-ANBS newsfotainment wave.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Now if only we could for once rest easy that Hillary wont scuttle the ship. Her not conceding last night was more than a little troubling.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I only hope if he gets the job (PotUS), it doesn’t change him.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Annie… I would have been happy either way, Obama or Clinton. Though, in the end, a bit happier with the latter than the former.
Robert… I don’t think Clinton will continue. The issue now is whether or not she’ll take the veep or a cabinet position. I hope not. I think she should stay in the Senate.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Mr_Blog… No TV here, all my news from the Internet. Maybe why that’s why I’m so cynical regarding this nomination. I don’t hear the speeches. I just get to read them.
Fred… Define “scuttle”. Would accepting the veep position qualify?
Frogette… If he follows Democratic tradition he’ll be gray before the end of his first term. Or…isn’t that what you were referring to? ;-)
June 4th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Just as long as he doesn’t turn into an asshole.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Would accepting the veep position qualify?
Oddly enough, no. I think accepting the VP spot would be the least harm Clinton could do. And it fits with his ideas on returning certain limits to the unitary executive. The Vice Presidency Pre-Chaney.
*Dude, I almost typed that whole thing with a straight face.*
June 4th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
He might well be the first president with a concept of justice that isn’t more like ‘just us.’ It’s so easy for people of wealth and privilege to convince themselves that they actually deserve it. A new perspective will be refreshing.
June 5th, 2008 at 6:09 am
He’s black and white and colored and bright as can be and has Michelle to scrunch his ego if it drifts.
I am so relieved that the fan-dango-dysfunction-ings of the Clinton family re-inhabiting the White House won’t be the daily gossip seeking (what passes for media) fodder blared night and day in between Paris and Brittany lower cleavage sightings.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Just as long as he doesn’t turn into an asshole.
Frogette… Actually I think that this is exactly what Obama needs to do. All of this “change you can believe in,” stuff is fine but what we need is a campaign that calls McCain out for what he has become, an old, cranky, confused, sell-out, who wants to wreck this country in the service of faux patriotism. Democrats, traditionally hate to take the campaign to the enemy.
Fred… If what you say is true, wouldn’t Senator Clinton prove to be an enormous distraction as VP?
June 5th, 2008 at 7:36 am
SBT… Perhaps, but I’m really worried that Senator Obama is going to be a Jimmy Carter for the ’00s. I’ll probably expand on that in another post, but there’s a real danger here in that Carter also had a very different perspective but couldn’t translate it into effective governing.
That said, an Obama presidency (as a Clinton presidency would have…) will break a barrier that needs to be broken…the 230 year lock on the White House by White men.
Craig… You are correct that we need to get away from the Clinton era. As I said in an earlier post, “The wrong woman at the right time,” but give the woman her due. She ran a historic campaign as well.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Wait. Are you kidding me? Obama is BLACK? And I spent hours trying to brighten my TV screen…
This was historic. That a black man, and a woman, have finally broken those barriers in the USA is one of the more exciting things to happen recently. I mean politically.
As for calling McCain out for the creep he is, Obama is quite able to do this. He certainly called out Joe Lieberman in the Senate for claiming Obama was “bad for Israel.” I don’t have the link, sorry dude.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I’m not buying the change mantra until I see it.
Obama’s Intelligence advisor is John Brennan, formerly of the CIA, who has publicly adopted the same stance as the Bush administration regarding FISA; that telcos should have immunity for illegally spying on Americans.
And this was AFTER Super Tuesday – read for yourself.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/07/obama-brennan/
June 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Wait. Are you kidding me? Obama is BLACK? And I spent hours trying to brighten my TV screen…
Diva… :-) :-) :-) Now let’s just hope that we don’t have to wait 70 years (the time between the 15th and 19th Amendments) for a woman to finally become our president.
UC… I too am very skeptical. Obama’s commitment to true change will be revealed in the first month of his presidency if he refuses to issue orders stopping Bush’s illegal surveillance programs.
June 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
If what you say is true, wouldn’t Senator Clinton prove to be an enormous distraction as VP?
Hence the bit in asterisks…
June 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Fred… Sorry, I actually missed that last line — still not quite used to the lack of a pop-up window in Wordpress. need to to work on that. But here’s another question: I don’t think that, whether or not she’s on the ticket this time, Clinton has another presidential run in her. Too old probably. So, who would we want like to be our first woman president?
June 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I’m thrilled that we have a black nominee and I do agree that it’s time for a different perspective. I don’t know that that’s the reason I support Obama. He was black before I decided to vote for him in the primary. I was still deciding between him and a couple of others when the others dropped out of the race. But he Clinton was never one of the ones I preferred, but I certainly would have voted for her if she’d won.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
“He is change.” I liked that, Kvatch.
The whole thing reminds me of this: I congratulate friends visiting from California on legalizing gay marriage a few weeks ago. They look rather blank at first and then say “When you live in California, this is not a big deal. It should have happened years ago.” That’s kinda how I feel about Obama. It’s fabulous that it happened, but it was long overdue for a non-white, non-old dude to be nominated. We’ve finally caught up with the rest of the world. Yay, us.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Zenyenta… I still feel that Obama has a lot to prove. His first couple of months as president will be crucial. Will he stop illegal surveillance of US citizens? Will he put an end to rendition? Most importantly, will he request a reauthorization from Congress for the use of force in Iraq? But hey…a non-white, non-male, non-boomer (almost) in the White House is a lot of positive change. (As Hedy so rightly points out.)
Hedy… I guess even the old dog can be taught new tricks. It is interesting how country that prides itself on its ‘pioneer spirit’ can lag behind on so many things: Slavery, suffrage, enfranchisement.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Obama’s speech to AIPAC following the nomination demonstrated no change at all. That’s a worry.
If he’s already at the beck and call of the Jewish lobby then the question can be asked as to whether he is his own man or not and whether he’s really a cut above most politicians.
I feel real concern!
June 6th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I’ll be seriously disappointed if his Admin is Not very different even from Bill Clinton’s. I hope he get’s Bob Reich on board, but, yeah, the illegal surveillance stuff has got to end, as does the Iraqi occupation and being such staunch Saudi defenders.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Ms_WINS works in an elementary school. In the hallway there’s a poster of a cute bi-racial girl and the caption “I want to grow up to be the first woman president.” So obviously there was no way Hillary could win. Therefore we need to find that little girl and pencil her in for a run in 2048.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
That’s a good point, that Obama IS change. That’s also true of Hillary to a lesser extent, but she and Bill are too embedded in the Good Old Boy network.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
David… There is room for concern, but IMHO the touchstone is not Obama’s stance on foreign policy issues–e.g., Israel, where his positions are still forming–but domestic issues: Executive lawlessness and the strength to restore some balance between the legislative and executive; The willingness to put power back in the hands of the people; The willingness to put the breaks on the kleptocracy that this nation has become…etc. That mostly has to do with lobbies other than the Jewish one.
I’ll be seriously disappointed if his Admin is Not very different even from Bill Clinton’s.
Michael… it would be a shame if all we got out of an Obama administration was a man breaking the ‘minority barrier’ to high office. In that case, we would have been better off with Clinton.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Mr_Blog… :-) But hopefully we’ll have a woman as president earlier that 40 years from now. I’d like it to happen in my lifetime, and doubt I’ll make it that far.
Tom… Thanks. See the comment above (to Michael). A lot of the electorate’s faith in the system is riding on Obama’s protestations of being a different kind of candidate. He’s going to get savaged if he doesn’t deliver.