Jack & Jill Politics

There are times when white people need to talk to other white people about the impact of racism.  In the case of Obama vs. McCain, Ben Smith over at Politico, shows Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO, who “in an unusually blunt discussion of race, talks about the old-line white union Democrats who he says may not vote for Obama because he’s black.” Actually what he does is get real with another white person, pressing her to explain why she’s so very reluctant to vote for Obama. Trumka breaks it down saying,

“We need to get the message out that a worker who votes for John McCain is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders.”

Earl Ofari Hutchinson tipped me to this recent, troubling AP/Yahoo! poll that shows that even in the face of incredible challenges in America and a party that has driven our country into a ditch — still, some are blinded to their own best interests by mistrusting another race. “Statistical models derived from the poll suggest that Obama’s support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice.”

Wow, really? It almost begs the question: How could Barack Obama possibly treat the American people worse or do a worse job — seriously — than George W. Bush and the Republican party? How?!? Do they really imagine that Obama will treat America like a liquor store he wants to rob? The irony is that Bush will have taken everything except the White House silverware by the time this financial crisis has reached its apex.

Oh….but there’s more. (including a fun graphic charting America’s race hatred on the flip!)

Dig:

Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them “lazy,” “violent,” responsible for their own troubles.

(Note from Jill: the poll also said blacks are called “complaining” and “boastful” – here’s why “elitist” works. Told ya it was a dog-whistlin’ code word.)

The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about two and one-half percentage points.

And the impact of the Clinton campaign? Aggressive, enthusiastic stumping by Hillary and Bill Clinton for Obama could make a big difference.

Just 59 percent of her white Democratic supporters said they wanted Obama to be president. Nearly 17 percent of Clinton’s white backers plan to vote for McCain.

Among white Democrats, Clinton supporters were nearly twice as likely as Obama backers to say at least one negative adjective described blacks well, a finding that suggests many of her supporters in the primaries — particularly whites with high school education or less — were motivated in part by racial attitudes.

What is wrong with people who are supporting John McCain – the man who would have done to healthcare what’s been done to the financial sector? In order to bridge this gap, it appears that Barack Obama is asking a tall order of some Democrats and some Republicans. Will they hold their nose and vote for change or hold on tight to the status quo, uncomfortable though it may be, because of greater discomfort over race.