If this swiftboating of Obama works - Will race relations suffer in the US?

[phrenzy]

I honestly think there will be a lot of angry angry people (black and white) who will not be able to forgive America for letting "fear of scary blacks" derail a great candidate.

I really think this may break the spirit of many of the new voters that were entering the process because of Obama. A large amount of Obama supporters will probably leave not just the party, but the entire voting process in disgust. I know if this happens, I really am probably done with politics. Especially in light of his candor and eloquence in the matter.

We've had to endure this kind of crap with the "Gore Sigh", the "Dean Scream" and the "Swift Boats". This is EXACTLY the same as those ridiculous manufactured issues.

FYI - I don't Hate Hillary, I like her a lot. I just think, if Obama goes down for THIS, it is so distasteful that I can no longer invest my emotional energy in such a sham.

[Barack_America]

1. Yes. And I will be one of them.

If this swift-boating is successful, I'm out. Certainly out of the Democratic party and possibly out of mainstream American politics entirely.

[PoliticalAmazon]

18. Best thing to do: Resign from Democratic Party

It is the only "vote of no-confidence" the DNC will not be able to spin away.

[Barack_America]

22. Of course. I have a blank registration form set aside to do just that.

:patriot:

[anigbrowl]

2. Yes. I would also expect the youth vote to go through the floor in Nov.

I think a great number of people would become radicalized and start looking for ways to participate in the country's future from outside the regular political process. It would be a 21st century version of 1968, though hopefully without the violence.

[jakem]

3. If Obama is out, I pretty much am too.

there is only so long we can pretend this 'Democracy' is working...

Either we get it together and do something different, or they can vote in the same old assholes without me.

[kwassa]

4. Absolutely. If the pundits keep harping on Wright, it will happen, too.

[npincus]

5. YES- I will be a furious white person.

The MSM doesn't even KNOW what they are playing with here... it's bigger than a single person/candidate.

[TwilightGardener]

6. I'm out of the party, if Dems allow racial divisions to harm our black

candidate and help our white candidate--especially if our white candidate is fanning the flames.

[K Gardner]

21. Ditto here.

[phrenzy]

7. disillusionment

I unfortunately agree. The disillusionment from people who "dared to dream" will be astronomical. I agree, we may see it create a generation of rabidly nihilistic kids. Possibly like the 60's hippies or the 70s punks in england.

Oh well, hopefully we'll get some good music out of it.

[Lucinda]

8. I don't think so. Not to any great extent. IMO the injury will be seen as self-inflicted

Most of the people I know who are upset over Wright, offline, don't see Obama's race as the problem, they are questioning his judgement.

That may not be the case everywhere, but I think it does represent the POV of a large number of people.

[SeaLyons]

9. Obama has NOT been swiftboated...

and many do not view his eloquent speech as being filled with candor. That's the problem. Yes, I'm a Hillary supporter, but one that would have voted for Barack. I find it infuriating that Obama let the Wright scandal come to what it has. He knew the video's were out there, and he knew it would be viewed very negatively.

There is no swiftboard here. Just stupid thinking on Barack's part.

[phrenzy]

11. Valid Points.

He IS being Switftboated in the sense that this is being turned into a character assassination of the lowest order. Granted, it wasn't made out of 'whole cloth' - but the hysteria IS being manufactured by a media that needs a national drama to stay in existence.

I also want to say that this type of character assassination has been engaged in by many many people against Hillary. It sickened me then too. Although, I had long since accepted that people for whatever bizarre reason have this fanatical hatred of Hillary and I guess that was just an accepted "fact of life" for me for the past 15 years.

That said, I understand your frustration here, I had the same feeling wtih Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky issue (How could he be so stupid knowing there were people dedicated 24/7 for him to do exactly what he did.)

I agree that Obama may have been trying to 'tip-toe' past the graveyard, but he may have also felt that, like Kennedy and others that people won't think that his policy will be guided by what his pastor says.

Honestly though, what else could he have done to handle this?

[SeaLyons]

16. True that the media

is keeping it alive, but I feel that Barack's association with this church is a very serious problem because his relationship with Wright is very long and very close. I think one wonders how Wright's views could not be a part of Barack's soul. It has forced a second look at Barack by many, and again, I don't think his speech alleviated the outrage. I don't see it as a character assassination against Barack. I see it as a consequence of his personal choices.

[ficus1]

28. I'm still waiting for the days worth of material that shows

that Wright's outbursts were a regular part of his sermon. It's been a week now, and every major news organization has been combing through his sermons. If you continue to believe that the tone of Wright's sermons was consistently the same as in the clips shown by the media then you're allowing yourself to be played. Because this situation is so racially charged, some people will be easier to fool than others. I'm not saying these people are racist, they may just be dumb.

[UALRBSofL]

34. I havn't seen a swiftboat other then Fox running Wright soundbites

If you want to use this as swiftboat then you really underestimate what swiftboating really means. Swiftboating is what happened to the BigDog with Starr on his butt every minute of the day for several years.

[jody]

10. IMO BO has not been subjected to swiftboating. He attended TUCC for 20 years, Wright was his mentor,

and hate speech was part of Wright's message.

We'll never know whether BO also participated in such conversations but he was present.

As i understand the term, swiftboating involves spreading lies about a person e.g. Kerry's silver star.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. The Swiftboating was more than just lies about Kerry's military service.

They had to stop spreading the Silver Star smear when it was proven to be a lie and they were sued.

The second phase (and arguably the more effective one) was when they attacked him for his anti-war activism when he came home. It was true that he attended antiwar demonstrations, threw his medals away publicly, and testified before Congress about the atrocities committed by soldiers. The swifties ran several ads where former POWs and their widows denounced Kerry for dishonoring them. So you can't say that it's only "Swiftboating" when it's not true.

[jody]

13. We disagree. I can live with that, hope you can also. n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

17. Okay. I stated the truth. Jody disagrees with it. nt

[high density]

24. A large part of a Swiftboat-style attack is the media's role in it

The attack on Kerry would have been nothing without the media giving it tens of millions of dollars in free airtime. Just like the lying Swiftboat comments, Wright's incendiary comments have been played endlessly for no reason other than to take down Obama. There's simply no other purpose to air them. Both of these attacks are quite similar since they both would be much smaller issues (or perhaps not an issue at all) without the media giving humongous attention and focus to them. It's like push polling ("Would you vote for Obama if his minister said 'God Damn America?'") except instead of using a phone they use television.

[TwilightGardener]

32. Correct--it's not the comments, it's the undue attention and focus on them, the

repeated playing of them, which signals to dumber people: This is really important! This is HUGH and SERIES!

[Blue State Bandit]

14. Obama would be immune to this in the GE...

by McCain's support of and from Parsley, Bill Graham, and the late Jerry Farwell, and his lack of ability to square their overtly racist, sexist, and anti-American comments over the years.

Obama's speech has already instigated cross-denomination dialogs between major White and Black churches.

[mmonk]

15. Yes.

[high density]

19. It's disappointing

If my party is going to go all limp like this, there's no reason for me to be a part of it. I keep getting emails telling me they need money, but WTF do they need money for? To rent a stadium in late August? What a joke. They seem to want politics as usual and I'm so tired of that crap.

[Bullet1987]

20. Count me out...

[depakid]

23. Possibly

though I think in the long term, there are going to be a lot bigger fish to fry as peak oil and climate change devastates the US economy.

[TeamJordan23]

25. The media, once again, is failing us with its coverage this. nm

[redqueen]

26. I don't think race relations will, no... I think political relations will.

It won't be this race vs. that race.

It'll be progressives vs. DLC.

[quakerboy]

27. Ignoring the op to answer the question

HELLS YEA they will. Why can Canada have a black woman leader, and we are stuck on either?

[ecstatic]

29. I can only speak for myself. Never again would I vote democratic

(except for in local elections).

Never again would I watch political shows.

Never again would I visit DU.

I'd become distrustful of anyone who doesn't look like me.

I'd lose all respect for this country, it's leaders, and it's citizens.

And "God Damn America" would be my favorite slogan.

[Bonobo]

30. I will be one pissed off Whitey, let me tell you.

[K Gardner]

31. Evidently, some people at the US Commission for Civil Rights

are being asked to watch ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5175843&mesg_id=5175843

[Danger Mouse]

33. Yes. Big time. It's not swiftboating of Obama...it's swiftboating of black churches in general.

[bpeale]

35. i think the spoiled masses will not care in the least.

they will have moved on to other things by then. this will not affect anyone.