David Gergen just blew my mind!

[tjs_whatnot]

David Gergen just said that the elections aren't over, even though all the polls are saying it was a homerun...

"It's not over because Obama is Black."

When did pundents get so truthful and blunt?

It is possible that I've forgotten about the race issue?

Comments

[charma-10.livejournal.com]

I haven't been paying attention.

Who are the polls saying is going to win?

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

They are saying that Obama won by a little bit, but since McCain needed to really, really win to even break even. All the individual polls has Obama doing far better on many key points.

It's all so fascinating!

[ms-worplesdon.livejournal.com]

Allow me to be blunt. David Gergen is in his late 60s.

BURN. TSSSSSSSSSS.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

I think it's true, but I think it's going to be the other way...for every redneck rascist who wouldn't dream of voting for a black man, no matter how fuckin' awesome he is--there will be two young voters and three black voters who have never voted before stoked to vote for a voice of change, and it don't hurt that he's a fine black man!

[twinsuns.livejournal.com]

I hate hearing that stereotype. Not all rednecks are racist, not all racists are rednecks. I'm guessing that because I'm from the south, and go to an agricultural school, people automatically assume that I'm racist or something. Ridiculous.

But that's aside the point. :p I did think Obama did a much better job of actually answering the questions.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

You see, that's why I said Redneck rascists, not rednecks, not rascists, but a mixture of both. And I hate to tell you, but redneck rascists are not only in the south. I understand the touchy that southerners feel about "redneck" but Southerners do not have the market on it...and I'm speaking from someone who spent their first 28 years of my life in a 100 miles radius of the part of Idaho that is raft with Arian Nations and Nazi Youths of Tomorrow, the next two years were spent in Texas...

But you're right, I should have just said rascists...but sadly, I think with "Joe Six-Pack" and all, there is a specific rascist the Republicans are looking for...

Yes, I think Obama did much better at answering the questions and much better at answering them in a way that was specific to what exactly he was going to do...

[twinsuns.livejournal.com]

*nods* I suppose that the Republican party really is counting on people voting according to race... which is sad. :s


I honestly still am unsure the way I'm going to vote. The economy right now is obviously a big deal, a problem the new president will have to fix immediately... but I don't know which of their methods is better, you know? I suppose I'm going to have to decide based upon a few other issues...

Watching the debate last night didn't help me at all, heh.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

I love that I get to vote and that what I think matters, unfortunately with the electral college the way it is...people in our states are told from early on that our votes are going for either red or blue...but it would be sorta fun to live in those states that can change...I'd like the thought that my single vote swayed the country one way or the other...but I have no interest in living in Ohio or Florida, so oh well...

I think you might be my first undecided I've spoken to, wow! I can't even imagine what you guys are going through!

[ktmarsh.livejournal.com]

As a Black voter I have to agree with him. Hubs and I were talking about it yesterday morning. While Obama is leading in the polls, barely, we still have 4 weeks to go and like it or not, race is an issue in this election. Obama is a very charismatic person and had he been white he would be leading by a much larger margin. Many people are, er distrustful is not the right word but it's all I can think of at the moment, of him because deep seated prejudice that most don't even realize they have. Also, his name. It sounds un-"American" - basically it's not WASPy and most of our presidents have WASPy names. I hate to say this, but many white folk often do not think about race, but Black (and Brown) people think about it everyday because we are faced with it everyday. Think of it this way. If Hillary were to be running right now and leading by a small margin it would be because she is a woman and there are people who do not trust a woman as president. It's the exact same thing.

I am, however, surprised he was so blunt about it and actually mentioned it. The media has been very careful to stay away from the race issue because many people just do not want to go there. LOL

*needs Obama icon*

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was mosty shocked that he said it, but I think I was more shocked that I had forgot that he was black--does that make sense? Not that I forgot the color of his skin (I spend way to much time looking at that man and his beautiful skin--but that's for another time! hahaha!) But that he was OMG!BLACK!! And I know that's a luxury that I have that many don't. But I think it stopped being about race for me personally, when my BIL, who was a RAVING Republican--he IS the posterchild for Joe Six-Pack--and a borderline rascist, called me up during the primaries all excited because he was voting for Obama... he just LIKED the guy and liked what he had to say... that was when I stopped thinking of him as OMG!BLACK!!

Now Hilary, that's a different story I don't know if we could say it was because she was a woman--I am a woman, I am white and I am a RAVING Democrat and if she were on the ballot, I don't know if I'd be able to vote for her--and it has nothing to do with her being a woman...

[twilightsorcery.livejournal.com]

They had a guy on Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/) who studies polling and election results. For one study, he looked at pre-election polling, exit polling, and actual results. According to his findings, in races where one candidate is black and the other white, something like 8% of white voters say that they will vote or have voted for the black candidate but actually voted for the white candidate.

Think about it. 8% of white people who claim to be voting for Obama are lying through their teeth because they don't want anybody to think (*coughknowcough*) they're racist. That's not a whole lot of people, but it's certainly enough to skew the polling. Check out electoral-vote.com (http://www.electoral-vote.com/) and roll over the states -- and remember that a couple of percentage points of his lead is coming from people who are lying like crazy to make themselves look better.

So, yeah, it's not over. I live in NY, which looks like it's going to be an easy win for Obama, but I have to argue with my friends who are saying they're not going to bother, or they're going to write in Colbert, or whatever. Seriously, don't let the lying assholes elect McCain just because you want to be cute.

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

That is interesting. Although it could be said, hopefully that there are a lot of people who live in neighborhoods like I did growing up who wouldn't be caught dead voting for a black guy, but in the poll booth, when it's just their beliefs, their hopes and themselves, maybe they'll pull the switch differently then they said...one can dream can't one?

Also, as much as I love polls, this situation is unprecedented and a poll is only as good as the group of people they got to answer the questions...which is a crap shoot! So I don't think it's over by a long shot...and I think race has only a little to do with it...people are indecisive in this country....hedging their bets...and so many of them just don't want to believe. I have a friend who is voting begrudgingly for Obama because she's afraid to get too close to any of the candidates because she just doesn't want to get her heart broking yet again.

I know, I live in Connecticut and I have the same argument with friends all the time. I guess it was better then when I lived in Washington State and the election was already called before I even headed to the voting booths. :(

The only time I ever threw away my vote, it hurt! I love Al Gore like I've loved no other elected official, but when he ran in 2000, I was living in Texas...there was NO WAY my vote was going to count for jack...so I voted for Nader. Got the Green Party the percentage they needed to legitimizes, but still...