Obama Did Not Transcend Race
Everywhere you look today there’s a story about how Obama’s huge victory in South Carolina “transcended race” or how voters were “not swayed by racial politics.” Maybe those people are looking at different exit poll numbers than I am, because when Obama takes in 80% of the black vote and comes in last in the white vote he didn’t transcend race — he was lofted to victory almost exclusively ON race.
Now that race has become an issue (which it wasn’t in Iowa), I’m curious how he’s going to play in white America. Could this sweeping victory actually be Barack Obama’s campaign’s death knell?
January 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Yeah, I thought this victory was the exact opposite of transcending race, and am therefore a bit disappointed in the white people of South Carolina.
However, it seems like a really, really big leap from there to “race will be his death knell.” Maybe I’m just a left-winger from California, but I don’t know anyone who’s voting on demographics alone.
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Obama would have won even if the turnout was only 18% black. Edwards would have been second. The analysis:
http://electionstats.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/obamas-sc-win-did-not-need-a-large-black-turnout/
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Nobody THINKS they vote on Demographics alone, but then 80% of black Democrats in South Carolina just voted for the black candidate and less than 25% of white Democrats voted for the black candidate.
Demographics matter.
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Placid Wilbur… that graph assumes 4 out of 5 of the 18% black turn out will vote for Obama. Unfortunately there is something highly abnormal with 80% of one race voting for a particular candidate, therefore he only needs a small percentage (like 18%) if 4 out of 5 individuals vote for him. I would vote for him if I were a Democrat and I’m a 28 year old white male. I just think it’s unfortunate that it appears a considerable amount of black voters in South Carolina are voting based upon a skin tone.
Roland Martin is ignorant. He believes Clinton is trying to use race against Obama? Clinton is simply stating the obvious; Obama won such a large percentage of the state BECAUSE of his race, much like Jesse Jackson. Leave it to someone like Martin to pull the race card in response to what proved to be a true statement yesterday in SC. “Based on the results in South Carolina, it backfired badly.” Ah, so those overwhelming black votes for Obama were out of anger towards Clinton? Then why didn’t more of those Black votes go to Edwards??? Isn’t it racist to not vote for someone because they are not black, Roland?
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Obama won around 50% of white people ages 30 and less. He did reasonably well among the white population overall (25%). He definitely transcended race like no other Black presidential candidate has done before in South Carolina.
Clinton would have lost Nevada if she didn’t get 65% of the Latino vote — does that mean that she doesn’t transcend race as well? Or does it only matter if the races match?
And don’t you find it curious that when Clinton won Nevada, the media
emphasized that she won among *all women*, but with Obama in South
Carolina, they are emphasizing that he won among *black women*? Is it the case that the media can talk about women as a whole only when they are predominantly white?
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in ‘84 and ‘88, though I can’t find any breakdown of the numbers. I’m curious how he did among white voters.
I don’t consider 25% to be pretty good overall. That’s last place among the three candidates. I’d call that loosing rather soundly. The only person who did worse than him was Kucinich.
Nobody said Clinton transcended race in Nevada, though you’d have a better argument for that because she did exceedingly well in a racial group that was not her own. Obama did not.
Transcending race, as I interpret it, means, that the candidate is able to pull equally well amongst all racial segments of the population to the point that race is no longer a relevant issue in the campaign. When your candidacy, at least in South Carolina, is being propelled purely on the turnout of one ethnic group, I have a hard time seeing that as transcending race.
I didn’t notice them doing the all women/black women thing. Obama won among all women, the networks are being goofy if they focus on only black women. He, interestingly, pulled 54% of both men and women, which is a pretty neat trick.
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Obama has won all of two states so far, with 45 states to go, yet from all the media hoopla, you would think Obama won the race already. SHEESH!!
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January 27th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
“I don’t consider 25% to be pretty good overall.” The reason he did so poorly among whites overall is because Whites 65+ older (who, one might say, are stilling living in the racist past) overwhelmingly avoided Obama. But 25% is not bad when the other two were both within 10 points. It’s not great, but:
Iowa: Obama won a nearly all-white state by a great margin
New Hampshire: Obama lost within 3 points in a nearly all-white state
Nevada: Obama performed the best in Northern and rural Nevada — the whitest parts of the state.
I think Obama transcends race overall, although I will agree that there was some identity politics in South Carolina, as there always is. (Why do we even talk about Obama transcending race so much? Isn’t it pretty much the case that every Republican who’s ever won an election didn’t transcend race?)
But here’s the point: yes, he won South Carolina because of the Black vote. But he *trounced* Clinton in South Carolina because he also did pretty good among Whites in a *Southern* state. That’s impressive.
Oh, regarding Jesse Jackson — by the time he won South Carolina, the primary was over and the candidates didn’t campaign there. Bill Clinton is a dick: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/064892.php
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January 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
To earn myself some Obama cred, let it be known that I know these two people:
http://www.thestate.com/slideshows/gallery/298290-a298123-t2.html
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January 27th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
race was injected by the media let us not forget and white politicians pandering for the african american vote. HC is the political cruella DeVille. We know she doesnt mean it…besides she cant even do her stumpin’ with out Billy….she needs as all of the horses in the race, to focus on education, iraq, and the econonmy….the stimulus is a farce…
(the midas touch) …regardless i feel for who ever wins this horse race (poor mr or mrs next president)
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January 27th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Lorelei is disappointed in the white people of South Carolina, because 80% of them did not cross a racial boundary. Allegedly, this means racism?
Explain to me why we should also not be disappointed that black people also did not cross a racial boundary? Are they also racists?
The results show that he got 54%. In a race-free and perfect world, he should have gotten 54% of the white votes and also 54% of the black votes, and 54% of every other race. Statistically, neither was even close to that number.
Thus, BOTH of those races showed their true colors and BOTH should be defined as racist. What we learned is that somewhere around 26% of both races will absolutely cast a vote based upon race alone.
Since blacks are still a minority in this country, there are very many upcoming states where that 26% will be impossible for him to overcome. He has no chance to win the nomination in this country at this time. Let any minority run for the Senate in Utah and try to prove this theory wrong.
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January 27th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
i’m ready for a black president. white people are fucking irritating, especially when they say shit like “Explain to me why we should also not be disappointed that black people also did not cross a racial boundary? Are they also racists?”
no one’s a racist for VOTING or NOT VOTING for someone. but in america, it’s been pretty easy to only vote for white candidates, since the entire fucking power structure is and has been All Whitey All The Time.
in any case, realist, by your logic, clearly John Edwards is going to win the nomination because he got the MOST white people voting for him and the rest of america will follow suit.
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January 27th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Frankly it is appalling to see the double standard and hypocrisy surrounding the South Carolina election. First Obama gets a free pass from the media and the analysts. Then he collects nearly 80% of the black vote, while badly losing with black voters and the media, TV and press, boasts how he transcends race. It would be nice not to think us as blind or stupid. When African American vote based on race, it is called pride. When Clinton oints that out, it is called racism…I guess we can expect to see a number of racist states coming up on Super Tuesday, if Obama does not win those contests….It about time the media and America in general start calling a cat a cat…
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January 27th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
ps, i said 6 months ago that i didn’t think obama had a chance due to being black; my skepticism has been curbed, as i suspect will america’s.
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January 27th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
JBG only likes Obama neither of them are white.
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January 27th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I forgot the “because”.
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January 27th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
If you ever watched Ronald Martin on CNN talking you would know that this guy is so pigheaded. He would plainly dicard the blantant facts like 80% of African Americans voted for an African American candidate and 25% of non-African Americans voted for an African American not a positive indicator of race-based votes, and picked the 18-29 age group votes as a negative indicator. Well perhaps we should call that group an inexperienced-based vote? No no, it will not be PC to do so).
This guy constantly picks and chooses facts to suit his agenda like ingredients. When Obama wins, it isnt because of race based votes. I am willing to bet that when Obama loses on super Tuesday, he will cry foul that it is race-based votes that killed the African American dream.
Just admit it. Identity is part of African American’s pride. It reflects in the use of language, music, dress code, and all sorts of life styles. So what? You should just be proud of it and tell non-African Americans that you like your own people more. Is that a crime?
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January 27th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Joe has it exactly right. Roland Martin was pig headed and pitiful in his unsuccesful attempt to prevent everyone from seeing the obvious. The SC primary and its results was driven by one single thing: RACE. And that is what enabled Obama to win so convincingly; around 80% of the black vote while only getting 24% of whites….
Nothing really wrong with that. If a black man wants to vote for another one, so be it..
However, any reasonable observer can see the facts. If only Roland, Bill Bennet and the other so called experts or pundits on TV were courageous or honnest enough to state the obvious…
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January 27th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Again, everyone suspected Obama was going to win SC because of race. What they didn’t know was that he’d win enough of the *Southern White* vote to more than double Clinton’s vote count — he did that by winning *50% of the White youth vote*. The media shouldn’t avoid the fact that race helped Obama here, but that doesn’t diminish the fact the he won *the first landslide primary of the Democratic nomination process*. What it does do is not make him the frontrunner of Super Tuesday, and I haven’t seen one media person call him the frontrunner yet.
You guys are overreacting.
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January 27th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Did you mean me, or all of them?
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January 27th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Y’all.
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January 28th, 2008 at 12:34 am
It is so unfortunate the future of America-the leader of the world-is being decided over race. Wow! How amazing! I really feel like I am living in third world political arena. I am not calling the U.S. a third world country but come on. Please, show me something that defines the great American beyond that little four letter-word.
Well, only this time we cannot blame the media this time over that non-sense. But my thanks go the former President Bill Clinton who finally has the podium to proudly advertise his racial weakness. That is a shame. Has American politics been that so close-minded? Anyway, about time for the clown himself to take off his mask. What a beauty! It makes me laugh listening to people calling Bill Clinton the first black president. How ridiculous? But the worst part is he does not only accept the title but he seems to believe it also. That is the biggest racial fairy tale. I think it’s time to put that slogan to complete rest. The truth is black fell in love Bill Clinton only because they did not have a black candidate in the ballot.
Casting ballot over race is nothing short of complete ignorance as much as Bill Clinton is doing the dirtiest job to get his WIFE elected. The future of America should not be coming from any racial or gender ignorance. It should be about values, experience, patriotism and unbiased leadership judgment and decisions.
It has been over two centuries since American independence, almost fifty years since the Civil Right Act, and decades after launching in the moon but we still can’t see beyond the color of our skin. How wonderful!
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January 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I think it is unfortunate that the media continually push the race issue. It is racism whether you are black or white, it exists with both. There is a double standard in that a black person can say the same thing a white person would say and not be judged the same way, but it is wrong regardless of the speaker.
It is unfortunate that we aren’t all trying to put our differences behind us and focus on what we have in common. Has life always been fair to all races and all genders, of course not, but dwelling on it instead of trying to unite will only keep us segregated. The media clearly sees this as a hotbed issue more than the candidates stands on real issues and their experience. I am so disgusted with the coverage so far. I don’t think there is much difference so far in the way either campaign has been run. I do hand it to John Edwards for staying out of the fray, but then he also doesn’t exist to the media, does he?
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