Race is an issue in this election

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok one of my neighbors... in her seventies... she volunteered that she cannot help Obama win.... she's been a democrat all her life... but he is a terrible candidate... which is code for the N word.

For those of you who believe this is not a factor... it is... and I hope not a very large one.

[still_one]

1. Your seventies neighbor is not the majority /nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. No, but if you listen to people of that age set

she is with the majority of that age set...

As my brother in law and I concluded... she grew (like my dad ) in a very different world.

Did I mention that age set votes?

So I'd say a couple percentage points

Good news it is way out of the MoE...

On edit, my dad and mom will not vote.. they are not eligible, but talking to them and their friends has been instructive of how this election is more than just a game changer, it is a world changer

[buzzard]

13. That may be true for some in that age bracket but not all. My parents and their friends are

of that age and I have been talking to them about this election, so far all but one would vote for Obama and they all have an intense dislike for Palin.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. I said some

:-)

Not all...

And my mom hates palin... visceral hate... so she'd vote for Obama

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Sad and sorry to say it is an issue. I know several people who say they won't vote for

Obama because he is black and they are democrats. I don't understand it, myself. :shrug:

[decrepittex]

12. Racism

If you live in a blue state, as your user name indicates, they
may say "because he is 
black", here in red Texas you're more likely to hear
"I aint voting for that damn N(**er."
Believe me, racism is alive and well in the good ole USofA.
However, you cannot expect too 
much from Texas voters, Bush still has a positive approval
rating here. 

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. I was born in Calif. I have lived in Texas, San Antonio for the past 16 yrs.

So yes I hear this and I still don't understand it. And bush's high approval rating here in Texas boggles my mind, considering what he did to this state as Gov.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. If it helps it is not limited to the US

Sad I know

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Yeah, I tend to vote on one's abilities and not on what race they are. I could not care less about

race, as it pertains to politics, in this instance.

[Rage for Order]

4. How is "terrible candidate" a racist code word?

I don't agree with her assessment, but if all she said was that Obama is a terrible candidate, I can't see any racism in that statement.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. It is the polite way to call him a black man

the other one is there is something wrong with him and I can't put my finger on it

[Rage for Order]

8. Without knowing more about her I really can't say more

Has she mentioned any other people she thought were terrible candidates? Michael Dukakis, for example? Any repubs?

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. This was one conversation, but if did follow a pattern observed

already... older Americans tend to have MORE problems with this candidate and it is based on the amount of skin pigment.

Race will be an issue, and I just hope less of an issue than expected... all the way to four percentage points

[silverojo]

19. I don't believe the majority of people in that age bracket are racists

My aunt was brought up in a time when people were AFRAID of black people, but she wanted Obama to run for President since his keynote speech at the DNC. Similarly, my mother (who's 3 years younger) is a die-hard Obama supporter.

I think it also depends on where these people grew up. My family members of that age migrated to the largest city in the state, so they had to deal with people of other races. Maybe the elderly racists are those who were in small towns, where they didn't have much to do with black people.

Finally, a lot of the older women who supported Hillary probably resent the fact that they may not see a woman president in their lifetime, since HRC didn't make it to the top this time around.

I dunno...I think issues are more important than gender OR race. :(

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. again it is not the majority... it is just a significant minority

and I do hope will not have any effect as this is out of any Margin of Error

But this is a real issue

[DividedWeAre]

5. i hope it evens out somehow

i hope it evens out somehow - that some people will vote for him because he is black (different kind of politician) but in all respects, race is an issue in the election. it may have started out small but for the electorate that is still undecided, it is a bigger issue than for those who have already decided. so, i guess it is a bigger issue/impact than earlier in the election cycle. that is my roundabout way of saying, "i agree".

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Welcome to DU by the way

:hi:

[alittlelark]

10. uh, yeah......

Those rare folk MAY exist in your neighborhood. I have yet to meet one.


'THEY' will be the excuse for another stolen election.


Thanks for reminding us.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. They are rare, that they are... why you will have a small effect

but they are real.

And until today I had yet to meet one

:-)

[Strawman]

11. The best evidence says not to worry, but sure, when you hear that stuff, how can you not?

The best empirical evidence says not to worry about the so-called Bradley Effect. The is little evidence that people still lie to pollsters about supporting black candidates and then vote the other way. As long as the polls are reasonably accurate and Obama maintains his leads in enough battleground states' polls, we should be ok as long as there are no significant Republican dirty tricks with voting.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/persistent-myth-of-bradley-effect.html

On the other hand, a black candidate running for President in the general election is historically unique and none of the cases in these samples that disprove the Bradley effect are like this election. It's not the same as a black candidate running for the State Legislature or even in the Democratic Presidential primary, so there is still some uncertainty in my mind about those studies that say not to worry at all. Election fraud and disenfranchisement of minority voters are more worrisome to me, but I don't dismiss it entirely.

At a gut level, I think enough people have been scared into political and intellectual sobriety to overwhelm the prejudiced votes of people like your neighbor. They simply can't afford to indulge their racism or cultural conservatism this time around. We're in deep shit and people know they'd better elect the more competent candidate this time or else. I know it is tough to discount a lifetime's worth of these examples and fathom that a black man is about to be elected President given the amount of prejudice that still exists in this country, (it sure is for me too), but I feel pretty confident it is going to happen.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. If the electiins are reasonable clean Obama will mop the floor

and the effect is not as large as it was when Bradley ran... then it was what 5% something like that? We are talking a couple percentage points here, and that is now outside the Margin of Error

Just that these folks are real...

[Celeborn Skywalker]

14. It will be a factor, but

it will be trumped by the amount of new voters Obama will get.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Agreed and as I said, this is now out of any reasonable Margin of Error

where they could be used.

Just that folks need to be aware that they are out there

[Lil Missy]

23. Of course race is an issue!

But I think most of that noise comes from people who would vote Repuke anyway. I am not concerned about it. And neither, does it seem, to be an issue with the crucial swing voters.

I think Obama is doing just fine. :D

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I just mentioned it as the elephant in the room

I am sure the campaign is very aware of it... and reality is that in general it has decreased in younger generations, which is a pool that should be at the polls..

:-)

[Lil Missy]

42. Oh, I knew that. No offense intended.

:hi:

Check out this thread I just posted, to see how stupid I think this racist angle is:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4207890&mesg_id=4207890

[garlicmilkshake]

26. I've agonized over reporting on something my neighbor said the other day...

but it's bizarre enough to be of interest, IMO. We were talking about the election and he said this: "I can't stand McCain because he's just like Bush so I guess I'll vote for the n-----."

Now, what the hell do you say to someone like that? Anything?

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Thank you for voting for the colored man....

your children will thank you some day

:-)

[garlicmilkshake]

29. I shall give that the old college try. But I don't think this guy has ever been within 10 miles

of a college.


:rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. Just thank him and leave it at that

[Waiting For Everyman]

28. Does she know what McC is going to do to Medicare?

Does she remember the New Deal? The Depression? FDR? WW2 Germany? :shrug:

Doesn't that trump 50% skin color?

Ask her what holding onto voting that way now, is going to do for her a year or so into a McC administration? There's no second chance next year, once the lying talk and the attitudes are gone, and the reality of what he'll do is actual and unstoppable. Now is the prevention for what will come. Tell her not to even bother crying about it next year, b/c she knew it beforehand and empowered it herself. She'll also be responsible for what befalls others, who did the right thing with their votes and rejected that but will suffer anyway b/c of her.

This is the last chance to get off the disaster train.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. In fact, she's a child of the depression

so yes... she does

I told her that if McCain wins we are looking at a depression for sure...

On the bright side, Obama is going to win... even if she ain't gonna help him

Good news... this is a deep blue state... so getting into the argument is really not worth it.

:-)

[Waiting For Everyman]

41. Oh that's good to hear.

It's one "peace of mind" we have, being in a very blue state - me too. :)

I agree with you, I think O's going to win. More of a feeling about it, than the polls or anything else.

Maybe it's a sense that we're close enough to the abyss for more than the usual number of "undecideds" to be feeling the updraft from it.

Back to your OP though, that's what may bring a reverse Bradley effect into it more than we might expect. Hopefully so.

[BlooInBloo]

30. (shrug) We'll find out in less than 30 days how big of an issue it is for white folks.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Here it does not matter... a nice deep blue state

but if we were in OH for example... would be a different story.

I just went... hmm I have yet to meet one of these mythical would never vote for the man due to melanin in skin... so today I went.. now I have

[BlooInBloo]

35. Heh. Welcome to America.

:P

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Actually one of my college profs was a freedom rider

that was cool

[HughMoran]

32. No shit sherlock

It sucks but it's something that we have to deal with.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. I know... and have known this for a while

it was just kind of .... amusing to meet somebody who'd admit this openly

[HughMoran]

38. I had a friend give me a line like that...

"There's something about him that I just don't trust".

I wrote back that it's a shame that many rednecks wont vote for him because he's black or they think he's a Muslim. I'm not sure she got the hint that I was including her!

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. Probably not

race is a strange thing... and we have been trained in conscious and unconscious ways

I am one of the most open people you'd ever meet... and I caught myself a couple times on the ever so popular black person enters elevator, nobody meets eyes... these days I am one of the few neighbors that talks to the ONE and only African American neighbor... and he actually was the one to clue me to that one...

of course a USN Chief freind of hubby showed to us how store security treats him... compared to us...

Things like that.

So over the years people of different "racial Groups" that I know have woken each other to each other at times, unconscious prejudices

[AndyTiedye]

40. This Should Be Reflected in the Polls Already

It may be one of the reasons Obama isn't even further ahead, but it isn't a "Bradley effect", since the people you speak of freely admit that they won't vote for Obama, and would do the same if a pollster called.