NYT, pg1: Delicate Obama Path on Class and Race Preferences (affirmative action)

[DeepModem Mom]

Delicate Obama Path on Class and Race Preferences
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: August 3, 2008

....Mr. Obama, a Democrat, has continued to support race-based affirmative action, calling it “absolutely necessary” when he was a state senator in Illinois and criticizing the Supreme Court for curtailing it in his time in the United States Senate. But in his presidential campaign, he has unsettled some black supporters by focusing increasingly on class and suggesting that poor whites should at times be given preference over more privileged blacks.

His ruminations about shifting the balance between race and class in some affirmative action programs raise the possibility that, if elected in November, he might foster a deeper national conversation about an issue that has been fiercely debated for decades. He declined to comment for this article.

“We have to think about affirmative action and craft it in such a way where some of our children who are advantaged aren’t getting more favorable treatment than a poor white kid who has struggled more,” Mr. Obama said last week in a question-and-answer session at a convention of minority journalists in Chicago. During a presidential debate in April, Mr. Obama said his two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, “who have had a pretty good deal” in life, should not benefit from affirmative action when they apply to college, particularly if they were competing for admission with poor white students.

While Mr. Obama’s biracial background in many ways makes him an ideal bridge between racial sensibilities, the issue remains politically treacherous, especially with race taking an increasingly prominent role in the campaign. Indeed, Mr. Obama’s comments have already begun resonating in the long-running dispute over affirmative action, emerging as three states consider ballot initiatives that would ban racial preferences altogether....

***

Last week, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, Senator John McCain, announced his support for those measures....Mr. Obama opposes the ballot initiatives, saying they would derail efforts to break down barriers for women and members of minorities. But (Ward Connerly, a crusader against affirmative action) said Mr. Obama had already helped the cause. “He’s advanced the debate,” Mr. Connerly said. “He’s brought it to a new level.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/politics/03affirmative.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1217780136-Ueu%20Kb/wHD0NE59Jt6qTqA&pagewanted=all

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

1. McSame has flip-flopped on this issue. He was a former supporter of affirmative action,

but now that his racist cohorts in the Repuke party oppose affirmative action, he is suddenly against the policy. What hasn't the M$M dinged him on yet another major flip-flop???!?!

[glowing]

2. Why shouldn't all Americans have equal acces to live, liberty, and the pusuit of happiness?

Our constitution has already delved into this issue and this is an inherent right. AND there are some sections of our country that are desperately disadvantaged and are predominantly white.

[BlooInBloo]

3. This is McCain's best attack ad. White folks can't STAND the idea of balancing,,,

an historical imbalance.

EDIT: And it's a two-fer for McCain as well I suppose: He'll get to paint Obama as the "affirmative action" President, like the Clinton campaign did.