Now that America has at least partially exonerated herself from foreign charges of racism and ignorance (how many Western European countries have elected minority candidates for their top office, I wonder?), we can all move on and begin the healing process. Right? Wait a second, Obama didn’t win the white vote. That means whites are de-facto racist, right? Not so fast. Obama only received 43% of the white vote, true. McCain received 55%, a clear majority. But let’s take a closer look.
Allow me to invoke the previous election in 2004. Kerry only received 41% of the white vote. That means Obama, who is black, received a larger percentage of the white electorate than Kerry, who is white. Bush received 58% of the white vote.
Maybe blacks are racist because they voted overwhelmingly for Obama at 95%. But hold on a second. They voted for Kerry at a rate of 88%. Essentially what we’re seeing here is, more whites are Republicans than Democrats, and blacks overwhelmingly vote Democratic, regardless of skin tone.
Maybe you attribute Obama’s victory to high African-American turnout. Even this proves dubious, as the black turnout was only 2% higher than in 2004. Given this information, I think it’s safe to say that race at least wasn’t as big a factor as most pundits believed it would be. At least to me, it appears it wasn’t much of a factor in the outcome.
What do you think?
I could argue that the nation was in such dire straights that a great majority of white people would have voted en masse for any white Democrat but I want. I think you’ve hit it on the head, Obama’s message of hope out shined the color of his skin. We are in a new America, and those of us who regret the sins of our Fathers are at least partially vindicated.