Obama Launches Presidential Bid
11 02 2007It’s official. The Democratic Senator Barack Obama has launched his presidential campaign. He is 45 and considered the first African-American candidate to have a chance of winning the Democratic nomination.
Hillary Clinton has also thrown her hat in the ring. So it’s Barak against Hillary so far. Should be interesting.The news media is buzzing about it.
Here’s my take and I’m perfectly willing to be proved wrong.
If the Democrats are running either Barack or Hillary or they might as well just forget about winning the presidency. Both are unelectable, at least for the moment, for different reasons.
Hillary is a woman. A hated woman, by America at least. Especially by women. And she’s an intellectual. Bad. Very bad. Barack is Black (although, according to the African-American community, because he didn’t grow up descended from slaves and grow up in Alabama, he’s not really black. WTF?!) Or, more importantly he’s “Not Black Enough for African-Americans” (translation: we’re taking our vote and we’re going home). I saw an interview on the Daily Show the other day where a prominent African-American woman was actually saying Barack is “an adopted brother, but not a real brother…” and I could not believe my ears. I eventually managed to pick my jaw off the floor.
The fact that he needs to be supported by the entire African-American community simply because he just might be the first glimmer of hope for a black president and because doing so sends a message, seems to be completely lost on them. I scratch my head. I really do.
If Hillary wins the nomination, I don’t see Americans voting in a woman as President, particularly a woman who many of them seem to think is the devil incarnate. Particularly when there are whole states that are staunchly anti-Hillary. And those states are key states. And much as it would be nice to see someone elected based on his credentials rather than his skin colour, I don’t see the American people voting for a black president at this point in time, either. At least, not the first time they are given that opportunity. But I would be delighted to be proven wrong.
Gore is a dark horse, but he might be a contender. But even with his “green” focus, he doesn’t seem to be able to present this all important issue well enough to gather support. Not surprising, since he has all the charisma of a plank of wood.
And of course it depends who the Republicans will field – Rudi Gulliani has thrown in his hat but unfortunately is pro-choice and pro gay rights so that might fuck up mess up his chances for the White House. Concerned Women of America, the religious right and the conservatives (ya,fundamentalists, really) are unlikely to support him. But if they did, and against Barack and Hils? Who knows? Senator John McCain is a contender for the 2008 Republican nomination too and so is Senator Matt Romney.
So nothing, but nothing is a slam dunk as they say… which makes for an interesting time ahead.
I bet it’s going to get messy.
I know, the whole Barack thing is sad, I think he’s a good candidate, but it isn’t up to just me, and unfortunately ignorance rules the majority of America.
in my mind all politicians are the same, they are all self serving wretches only there to line their own pockets, at the expense of you..
i dont vote for any politician, i vote against them.
IMO it’s shameful that the “not black enough nonsense” and indeed that the skin color of the candidates is even a consideration. People are people. They have different skills, knowledge bases, experiences and opinions. Votes should be based on our choices based on those kind of factors and not on race. The color of a candidate’s skin is absolutely irrelevant. Oh when we will ever learn?
I’m sad that most of what you’ve said here is probably quite true, and sadder still that “messy” is probably putting it mildly.
@mercurior - I hear ya… I haven’t yet met a politician that has stuck to their word. Even when they promise stuff, somehow as soon as they get our votes they forget what they said they’d do -until the next election. I vote for Jack Bauera and David Palmer as President (heh)
@ TT - Yep, it’s pretty shameful isn’t it? It’s a pity that skin colour should even matter at all - but you know it will in this one.
@Jay - Welcome …Yes. I’d call “messy” the understatement of the day. The knives are coming out, and it won’t be pretty.
I too was struck by the “he’s not really black” stuff. WTF indeed. I can’t speak from any experience but no doubt a black man in America is treated like a black man in America. The adult black experience is not alien to him. I like the way he phrased it on 60 Minutes — he sure feels black when he’s trying to hail a taxi.
I’ve been following this closely and reading up on the various articles. The Salon item by Debra J. Dickerson was interesting but it saddened me.
I admit I like him a lot. Sure he’s young and he’s green but he’s smart and charismatic. As you note Britgril, he’s the first glimmer of hope for a black president. And he’s a very bright glimmer. The US could do a hell of a lot worse….and it will get very messy, I agree.
Mind you, we have Stephen Harper and I don’t know how well Stéphane Dion will fare in that race. He very smart too but lacks pizzazz. But he’s getting better.
i always wanted to vote for the monster raving loony party, but they never had the candidates here ;-(
the monster raving loony party is an good political party
http://www.omrlp.com/ much better than most politicians
The comments about Barack not being black enough probably come from the fact that he is of mixed-race heritage (his mom is white). Still ignorant comments, nontheless. Barack will have a lot of younger people pushing for him in addition to an African-American base of supporters. A lot of Americans have long grown tired of Bush and the Republican party, so that’ll help Barack’s cause as well. Hilary Clinton is smart, but she unfortunately has the baggage of her husband’s misdeeds hanging around her (so does Al Gore). You would think women would be behind her, but in this country, there are a lot of conservative women — backed by their religious right husbands — who have disparaged her for years.
@ Hillari and Christine - I was going to say the same as Christine! Except she explained it much better than I would have done. It is because he is African - born in Kenya in fact) and not descended from slaves. I wish I could remember the name of the woman on the Daily Show - maybe it was Debra Dickerson? Just can’t remember…but I was yelling (almost)at the TV as she was saying this crap. It made me so angry, because I could see the implications… The sad thing was when the interviewer (Colbert?)asked her some pertinent questions, she couldn’t but see she had backed herself into a corner. Even she realized how bizarre it sounded. It was surreal.
In a way it is almost good that this has come to the surface now. But on the other hand, it makes my heart sink. How much more divisive could it be? I can almost feel the African-American community (isn’t that a misnomer by the way?) wanting Obama to fail. What the… It is a very sad indictment of where we are today, and shows we have a long, long way to go.
As for Hillary - even though she does have her faults, it seems no one is interested in her credentials. Put all this together and no wonder you get Bush!