I don't see how Obama wins OH in November if 20% of white voters won't vote for him just b/c of race

[angie_love]

To be more specific: 20 percent of white voters said "race was an impt factor" and 75% of those voters went to Hillary. This is based on just race alone. It really hurts me to see this statistic but there it is, racism alive and well, when I was so proud of Iowa just a few months ago, Ohio says not so fast we are still racist. This is a problem for Obama in OH and PA. Prove me wrong please. I need some positivity right now. Please no flames from Hillary supporters.

[scheming daemons]

1. psst.... Ohio is a increasingly red state.... Hillary won't win it in November either....

...

[MNDemNY]

2. psst...without Ohio, the Dems lose the ge.

[papau]

7. true - and polls showining Hillary winning over McCain in OHIO aren't to be mentioned

[MNDemNY]

17. Not so loud... you may be struck down from on high.

[skipos]

14. The "we must win OH" lie is as annoying as the "we must win the south" lie

Kerry states + VA + (NM or IA, both states that Gore won) = Dem president.

[susankh4]

19. Not true.... Clinton WILL take Ohio in November....

the same swing voters that put Bill in the WH are in Hillary's corner. That is her 7% of "crossover repug" voters in OH. They flipped to Bush cuz they perceived Gore and Kerry as "elites" who did not understand their problems.

Let me give you a little picture of what that voter looks like:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx/?mkt=en-us&vid=987f9956-ed8e-4762-b18e-0a0689115f9a&wa=wsignin1.0

You don't have to like it. It's reality.

[Nederland]

3. No flames

You are right. The only way Obama wins Ohio in the general is for all Democrats to get past their racism.

[Blue_Roses]

12. bingo!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4903450&mesg_id=4903450

[Avalux]

4. So Ohio is racist and PA is likely racist too. Let's nominate Hillary because she's white.

That's about what it boils down to - a lot of those people didn't vote for Hillary because she's such a great candidate, they voted against the black man.

[bdamomma]

11. sad that we are not over this shit yet.

sad indeed.

[thereismore]

5. That would be some serious racist shit the whole country would have to live with. nt

[democrattotheend]

6. I am concerned about that

My boss expressed concern a while ago that Obama couldn't win Ohio because people there were too racist, and he may be right. And we have to factor in that this is just the people who were willing to admit it...there are probably more Clinton voters for whom race was a factor.

On the bright side, I have heard a number of people say they are voting for Clinton because they are concerned that Obama's race makes him unelectable. So these people will probably vote for him in the general...they are just thinking strategically. I don't agree with that line of thought, but in terms of assessing how much support he'd lose in the general, it may be less than the exit polls suggest.

[jakefrep]

15. I've wondered if that played a role in Strickland getting elected

Since he was running against Ken Blackwell.

I hate to think that I have to wonder about that sort of thing in this day and age.

[Blue_Roses]

24. but you do

unfortunately

[NC_Nurse]

8. I don't think you can let the reality of lingering racism control who becomes

the nom, just as lingering sexism shouldn't. We have to get past these antiquated attitudes some day.
Why not today?

[Apollo11]

9. I don't think it's only about race

Some people probably feel more comfortable with Hillary because they feel like they know her.

Both Hillary and McCain have been regular faces on the TV news over the past couple of decades.

Obama is a new kid on the block, and outside Illinois most folks don't really know him all that well.

Maybe if folks got a chance to know him more as a VP or cabinet member or Senate Committee Chairman?

[rox63]

10. This just means we need to turn out more of the non-racist voters

Voter turnout has been much higher this year than any other previous election. More people are becoming politically engaged. We just need to get more of the non-racist people to turn out at the polls in November. And if they are racists, chances are they're not too thrilled with Hillary either.

[kentuck]

13. How do you explain this?

Obama got more of the white vote in Georgia than he did in Ohio??

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

20. Very easy. In the south race is MORE important, thus the parties have been

more racially polarized.

The average southern white is probably more racist than the average northern white, but the average southern white dem is probably less racist than the average northern white dem, because if he is at all racist he would have been forced into the republican party in the south.

The Georgia Democratic party is much more black than the Ohio Democratic party, so a relative white rascist would feel out of place in the GA Dem party, but not so much in the Ohio Dem party.

If you want to see some real racism, go to working class white neighborhoods in NYC and Boston... yet those folks are mostly Democrats.

[greguganus]

21. "Racist by region" doesn't apply anymore. n/t

[zanne]

16. In other words, racism is alive and well. (Especially in Ohio) nt

[PassingFair]

18. And those same RACISTS won't choose a white MAN over a white WOMAN?

:crazy:

[casus belli]

22. When was the last time you saw this statistic in a primary?

There is a really good chance that if you asked this question in 2004, or 2000 that the number may have been much higher than that. The number may actually represent a huge IMPROVEMENT in public perception of race, rather than a downward slide.

Race is still a very real issue in some parts of the country. If you look at how Obama has fared in state's where he was basically given no chance of winning, it's all the more impressive. Ohio was a particularly negative campaign contest, which may have played a factor in those numbers not shifting in the same way they had in other states. Plus, the other side of that coin is that 25 out of 100 voters who answered that race was an important factor actually voted for Obama. I'm not sure what that says, but it goes a long way toward showing that exit polling on race may not be a particularly accurate way to determine GE results.

[sandnsea]

23. So we fight for CO, VA, NM, IA, MO, GA, instead n/t

[TeamJordan23]

25. Exactly. JFK didn't win Ohio...plus Ohio might end up voting Dem because of McCain's Trade position.

[totodeinhere]

26. Clinton can't win in November without black votes either.

And all of Clinton's negative attacks on Obama have a lot of blacks really pissed off and thinking of not voting for her in November if she is the nominee.