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Affirmative Action for Obama?

Former VP candidate and liberal Democrat Geraldine Ferraro said,

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Wow! I didn’t think political correctness would allow anyone to say something like that, but since it’s not a Republican saying it, it must be ok.

Well now that it has been said, it’s worth examining. Ferraro seems to be implying that there is some sort of affirmative action program for black candidates which as a liberal she should definitely be in favor of. If there was a white man running for President with the same resume as Barack Obama would he even get noticed? I think everyone’s honest first impression is no. But let’s assume he has the same oratory skills and likability factor as Obama. How much attention does he get now? The ability to connect with an audience cannot be overlooked in our reality tv/feelgood society. We tend to prop such people up on a pedestal and promote them like a rock star regardless of color or competence. Who or what they are has little meaning at first. Eventually the luster starts to wear off and we get bored of our new toy and we try to find ways to destroy him instead. It’s a game the media loves to play. I think Obama gets a longer pass than a similar white person of limited credentials just because of the shield of racism that protects him against criticism. It is hard to launch any sort of attack even if it is issues related simply because his supporters just have to pull out the race card to instantly muzzle their opponent and put them on the defensive. I do believe that eventually people will try to look behind the curtain and see if anyone is really there.

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This entry was written by Scott Allan and posted on March 11, 2008 at 9:36 am and filed under media, politics. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment(Latest is displayed first) or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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4 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. To me, the fact that no non-white presidents have been elected speaks for itself. Plenty have had sparse records and have been treated like “rock stars” because of things they’ve done unrelated to governance. Does his race make Obama stronger?

    I really, REALLY do not think so. I believe that though it may help give him a bit more of a pass, it almost assuredly denies him millions of white votes and hurts his actual chances at getting elected. Am I wrong?

    1. Colin on March 11th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

  2. Hi Colin. Thanks for responding.

    It’s hard to say whether his race is a help or hindrance since black candidates don’t generally run for President and we have nothing to measure him against. Did Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton not win because they are black or because people didn’t like their divisive politics? Obama has transcended the race issue so far.

    Why have women not been elected President? Is it because we’re sexist or they are unqualified? It’s probably because none ever run.

    I think these candidates use the race card or glass ceiling argument to try and guilt people into voting for them.

    It’s interesting to wonder if more people will vote for Obama just because he could be the first black President as opposed to those would who vote against him for the same reason. There seems to be an hysteria that “it is time” or “he’s close enough” regardless of the qualifications of the candidate. I think this has a lot to do with self-hating white liberals who feel guilty about everything and that somehow this rectifies some social injustice. Then there is a large group that are just mesmerized by his charisma and I don’t think that has anything to do with his color.

    2. Scott Allan on March 11th, 2008 at 1:56 pm

  3. Hi Scott!

    Edwardsina took this on. Of course Barack would be gone by now if he was a white dude. But so would Hillary. There’s no way the word electable is uttered for them when compared to the repubs. That being said, I don’t think it matters. McCain will beat either of them.

    3. Chris in NC on March 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

  4. Hey Chris! Thanks for stopping by.

    Man I hope you are right. I’ve been trying to imagine a white man of equal charisma and all I can come up with is Reagan. And you Mr.Obama are no Reagan.

    I hope this is the “Sanjaya Effect” and he can’t keep this up forever. I keep thinking about the lead Dukakis blew, hoping history will repeat itself.

    4. Scott Allan on March 13th, 2008 at 8:16 pm

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