The White Male Voter

[CitizenLeft]

I'm listening to a re-broadcast of the Rachel Maddow show, and she just brought up a point that, frankly, hadn't occurred to me before. She mentioned the media's obsession with the White Male Voter, and their almost daily insistence that it's critical Barack Obama appeal to this demographic... and that if he can't win them over, he won't win the GE.

Then she introduced the reality check. Facts.

Democratic candidates received the following percentage of the white male vote:

1980 Presidential Election:
Carter: 38%

1984 Presidential Election:
Mondale: 32%

1988 Presidential Election:
Dukakis: 36%

1992 Presidential Election:
Clinton: 37%

1996 Presidential Election:
Clinton: 38%

2000 Presidential Election:
Gore: 35.2%

2004 Presidential Election:
Kerry: 38%

...to be blunt... WTF! So... Democrats have ALWAYS had a problem attracting this voter... WHY HASN'T ANYONE ON CABLE TV POINTED THIS OUT? Is it because it will make null & void that stupid argument along racial lines, instead of ideological, and they'd, then, have to stop freakin' talking about it??? The Democratic nominee will have to do better with this group, NOT just Barack Obama because he's black.

I point you to, ironically, a site that bears out these statistics: http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=171&contentid=3564">The DLC: The White Male Problem (2001)

Here's a more recent article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/03/03/clinton-obama-make-push-for-the-neglected-white-male-voter.html">Clinton, Obama Make Push for the Neglected White Male Voter

One more: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/09/17/white_man/">Salon: So Long, White Boy

If Barack Obama gets even 27-30% of the white male vote, it'll be a triumph, all things considered.

I really hope Rachel continues to get airtime on MSNBC, because she will bring this up again and again whenever the "experts" go off on this meme. I'm so tired of it I could puke.

THANK YOU, Rachel.

(I have to go to bed, and can't really post from work - just saying, so that it doesn't look like I just dumped the post and ran. I'll look for it late tomorrow night when I can get back online.)