Lurker de-lurking to discuss this primary, specifically race. [View All]

[reflection]

I have been lurking here since approximately 2004. I just want to de-lurk and say hi to everyone, even those of you who make me want to throw my monitor across the room. :)

I'm not exactly a true-blue Democrat. My views have swung to and fro over the years as I have aged. I went to a Mondale/Ferraro rally when I was too young to vote, and voted for Dukakis the first time I *was* old enough. So my first forays into politics were indeed very disappointing. I felt as if my pulse were opposite that of the rest of the country.

Over the next couple of decades, I tried to be an issue guy, rather than follow one party around blindly. So my voting record is sprinkled with various Rs and Ds, and even a few Is, both on a state and federal level. Along the way, I married and had two little girls. My political compass seems to have settled (at least for now) somewhere slightly-left-of-center (although the term "center" is another discussion).

One thing I feel strongly about - over the last 8 years, this country has squandered its resources, its reputation and its resolve to do the right thing by its citizens. For *me*, voting Democrat is the only option this time. I am currently leaning toward Obama but am not "sold." Nor do I ever expect to be "sold" on a candidate again. It is my opinion that they all fail us at some point, because they (and we) are all human, with human weaknesses built-in, and anyway, no politician can deliver all the ridiculous things they promise anyway.

Because I am *probably* voting Obama, I want to address some of these threads which refer to his "unelectability", which sometimes (not always, sometimes) implies that there are whites which will not vote for a black candidate. Here are my beliefs regarding the unelectability/race issue:

(Again, these are BELIEFS. I am not stating these as FACTS. Facts have no place in GD-P) :)

1. There are indeed some whites who will not vote for a black candidate. I live in Tennessee and can attest to this. They will never be swayed.

2. Blacks have unquestionably and faithfully supported the Democratic party for a long time.

3. Obama is the most viable black candidate to emerge in my lifetime. Whether he is electable or unelectable can be argued, but his support far exceeds the black candidates which have preceded him.

That being said, if anyone is going to make an argument that we can't nominate Obama because some whites may not vote for him, then I would say to that person, NO. That is not a valid excuse. You cannot reward bigotry by perpetuating it. You cannot advance the concept of a black President by cowering in the face of bigotry.

"But Obama will lose us the GE, and it's more important now than EVER," someone will say. Hogwash. This has been said about every election I can remember, and some of the older DUers will probably say the same thing about every election in their lifetime as well. Every election is important. If Obama ends this primary ahead in states, ahead in pledged delgates, and still has a lead, no matter how tenuous, in the popular vote, he should get the nod. If you are going to say that we cannot nominate a black man because he is unelectable, then let's just cut through the crap and tell black people they need not apply again. Because until someone takes a chance, it will never happen.

Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there, along with a "Hi folks." We now return you to your regularly scheduled feces-flinging. :)