So I linked to Obama's speech about "race" earlier.
While I liked the speech, upon reflection, I think that ultimately it was a loser. This came to me while reading this article over at Politico titled Obama's racial problems transcend Wright.
It talks about the fact that Obama's race has mattered in the election, that many of his "string of victories" have come in states with large black populations. Obama has been winning a large percentage of the black vote. In a word, duh. If I was black, I'd vote for him. I live in Arizona, I'm voting for McCain, my wife has a Vagina, she's voting for Hillary.
But getting 87 percent of the black vote won't help him in the general. A little political math here: Most Blacks are registered Democrats. So they're going to have a huge effect on the primary. In the general? Republicans weren't going to get those votes anyways, he's getting 87 percent of the votes that were already a lock for the Democrats. In states with more typical breakouts of black and non-black voters, Obama has lost.
So if people vote by "identity", which is political speak for people voting along racial lines, Obama loses.
All political wonks know this, and I knew it before I started reading the Politico article.
But the interesting thing about Obama's campaign during his high water period was that people weren't voting by identity, or at least white people weren't. But as the Politico article has made clear, the honeymoon is over for white voters with Obama. Wright's poison saw to that.
So those voters are going to Obama and rightly asking "He's your pastor, he's baptized your kids, your book title was stolen from one of his sermons. Yet this guy thinks 9/11 was just punishment? He thinks America is evil? What's all this about?"
Obama's answer was essentially: It's a black thing. You white people wouldn't understand. Besides, you white people have your own things. We need to move away from people having things.
Fair enough as a sentiment. But I think he's blown it because now he's rubbing people's noses in the fact that he's black. If he had more of a record, perhaps more voters could transcend that. But he doesn't. Wright's charisma of hatred cancels Obama's charisma of hope.
I don't know what exactly Obama should have said. But I don't think that It's a black thing. You white people wouldn't understand. was the right answer.
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