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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Obama's 7 percent solution

John Edwards endorses Obama, probably to annoy the heck out of the 7 percent of West Virginia Democrats who voted for him yesterday. I can't help but suspect that Edwards won't be attorney general in the new administration, or at least chief judge at the war crimes tribunal.

Speaking of the election in West Virginia, the topic of race and the way these issues have been covered in the media, here's a great piece from Columbia Journalism Review on the what has become "para-racist" issues in the campaign:

The Washington Post article excerpts a letter to the editor by a local, Clinton-backing, Pennsylvania pol that pointed out Wright, Obama’s supposed failure to salute the flag, his time in Muslim Indonesia, before suggesting he’d shun the bible when taking the oath of office. And it mentions an incident that’s gotten little press attention: the vandalization of his Vincennes, Indiana campaign office. A window was broken, and Obama’s full initials (remember what the “H” stands for?) was spray painted along with mentions of Hamas and the Reverend Wright.

Again, none of that’s literally about Obama’s race. But tack enough of that together, and all the sudden there’s a language that allows people to talk about deep-seated hesitancies without using the taboo language of race. Call it para-racist language.

Posted by Will Bunch @ 7:28 PM Permalink | 24 comments

Comments

Comment removed.

Posted 08:04 PM, 05/14/2008

SteveMG

OK..... Xi Jah.... take some deep breaths.... only black people are racist.... what an idiot.

Posted 08:26 PM, 05/14/2008

SteveMG

Hey XJ.... Keith is going to have a special comment tonight.... he seems to have taken offense to the President's personal sacrifice....Did you give up golf, too?????

Posted 08:26 PM, 05/14/2008

Hutch

Saddam Hussein? Seriously? You're playing the exact same para-racist card that Will brought up in his entry. Suggesting that blacks supporting Obama is somehow linked to Saddam is not just racist, it's stupid. People like you present a wonderful argument for requiring an IQ test before someone is allowed to vote.

Posted 09:05 PM, 05/14/2008

Xi Jah's figured it out. None of these African Americans have ever voted for a white candidate before. They are all first time, racist voters. Congratulations Xi Jah, here's your Reynolds Wrap. Fold at the corners or you'll cut your forehead. As for Malley, let me know when you comment on the 2 lobbiests who resigned from McCains campaign because they worked for a firm that lobbied FOR the military junta in Myanmar. Almost like having your defense secratary shake hands with Saddam-nevermind.

Posted 09:10 PM, 05/14/2008

Oh, this is priceless. The GOPs new campaign for the House is "The Change You Deserve". Perfect. Where's all the sycophants talking about rainbows and gumdrops now? "This agenda is a reflection of House Republicans' commitment to providing American families with the change they deserve: common-sense solutions to the challenges they face in their daily lives," according to the agenda provided to CNN.

Posted 09:11 PM, 05/14/2008

Holy S--t!!!! Look at their socialist agenda! The agenda goes on to argue that laws need to be changed to provide American families with "more freedom in their jobs; greater health care and retirement security; safer communities; access to quality, affordable education; and the ability for future generations to compete in the global economy."

Posted 09:12 PM, 05/14/2008

One more quote for you dedicated GOPers: Former National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis, a congressman from Virginia, says Tuesday's loss could lead to a devastating finish come November. "The Republican reputation is just in the trash can, and if this were a brand of dog food, you would just take it off the shelf, because nobody is buying it," he said.

Posted 09:15 PM, 05/14/2008

Mr. Smith

"Change you can believe in". Barack Obama's campaign is inherently about race. He is appealing because he's a black guy, and having a black candidate might help heal some festering wounds in this country. I'm a raving libertarian/conservative, and I still consider voting for Obama, if he can overcome his horrid socialist tendencies, and promise to govern responsibly, and with some common sense. If I do vote for him, it will be mainly because he is black.

Posted 09:29 PM, 05/14/2008

Talking point sleuth

I'm a raving libertarian/conservative, and I still consider voting for Obama, if he can overcome his horrid socialist tendencies, and promise to govern responsibly, and with some common sense.

Great to read that you might come on board, Mr. Smith.

For what it's worth, I might vote for McCain if he agrees that the war was a complete boondoggle, repudiates the lunatic preachers he's been pandering to, admits that he doesn't know squat about the Middle East, and suddenly finds out that he was actually born 20 years later than he previously thought.

Posted 09:50 PM, 05/14/2008

Wolfgang

Edwards should have come out in support of Obama last week. If Obama picks Edwards as his running mate I would be surprised. Hopefully he is smarter than that. Obama needs an oldhead Dem who can reflect a lot of the inexperience talk that is going to come O's way once Hillary is out of the picture. And a note for the racists reading this: The only race is the human race.

Posted 10:00 PM, 05/14/2008

As you may know, The NY Times did tjhat article on retired military analysts and their connections to the Pentagon. They used the FIA to request most of the info, and now there is some audio from a luncheon between Rummy and the analysts, here's a link: jfxgillis.newsvine.com/_news/2008/05/12/1482373-correctly-political-liquid-lunch-with-donald-rumsfeld

Posted 10:16 PM, 05/14/2008

mike l

Can someone tell me what Obama's socialist tendencies are? I mean, are giving every American a good education and quality healthcare socialist tendencies? When he tells parents to turn off the TVs and read to their kids and get interested in their school work, is that a socialist tendency? When he believes that Americans should have a government that actually works for them, is he being a socialist? Funny, sounds to me like he is being a true democratic American. And I didn't realize that so many millions of Americans have voted for him based solely on his skin color. I guess the fact that he is an educated, well-spoken candidate with a multi-cultural background, who worked to get where he is, and with a willingness to work with people means nothing to all those voters and contributors. Hell, if that's all it takes, let's just put up a cut-out of Denzel Washington and vote for it.

Posted 10:20 PM, 05/14/2008

Rheinhard

One thing's for sure, this Edwards endorsement now demonstrates that Obama is running the smartest, saaviest, strategic campaign run by a Dem in decades. First off, the Edwards news will completely knock off the news cycle all the hoary punditry about "ZOMG Hillary won by 30 points in WV! Is she unstoppable!", so the Hillary campaign gets a lot less traction in the public mind from the win. Plus, Obama's brilliant introduction, saying he wanted to reserve something special for Michigan, helps immunize him from the MI Democratic party's stupidity in trying to subvert the national party rules and eliminating their state's primary from the nomination process. Tonight was a stroke of tactical genius.

Posted 10:44 PM, 05/14/2008

LJL

About losing a special election in THE REDDEST DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY TO A DEMOCRAT: “This was a real wake-up call for us,” Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview. “We can’t let the Democrats take our issues. We can’t let them pretend to be conservatives and co-opt the middle and win these elections.".....In a nutshell, that is why the GOP is DOA in November....They actually believe their own BS. To fix a problem, you first must admit you HAVE a problem. This GOP administration hasn't been "middle" since Mark Foley was the middle of a congressional page sandwich. And when McSame throws BushCo under the bus, like he's done to every other loyalty and principle he ever claimed to have, these local GOPPER'S, who have been RED WHITE AND STUPID for too long, will be sinking to the bottom of that lake faster than Ted Kennedy's car.

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About Will Bunch

Will's book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

E-mail Will by clicking here.

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