American Election Gets Dirty
Jamaica Observer
With both American political conventions over, the contest for the White House is now on the home straight. Up until now, it has been something of a phoney war with breaks for the Olympics and the summer holidays. On the day that Democratic nominee Barak Obama made his big speech formally accepting the nomination, Republican nominee John McCain even felt obliged to screen an ad in which he congratulated Obama. But that will be the last nice ad we see from McCain. The campaign from now is going to get down and dirty. And it will all be about race.
Most of the mainstream media commentators on the presidential battle are white. So they have had difficulty facing up to, still less discussing, the racist undertones of much of the debate around this presidential race. People pick up on the obvious things, like Hilary Clinton’s claim that she had the support of “hard working white families” But maybe, like the writer of this article, you actually have to be a black person who has run for office in a white country to be able to decode much of the discussion.
For instance the frequent assertion that Obama is an “elitist” seems bizarre. Obama is the black son of a single mother who has recently paid off his student loans. John McCain by contrast: has a wife who is a millionaire; is descended from a long line of four star admirals and has so many houses he cannot remember them all. Yet Obama is supposed to be the elitist. It only makes sense if you understand that the real allegation being made against Obama is that he is “uppity”. And there is no more visceral allegation in the American racial lexicon. In living memory “uppity” black men got lynched. Then there is the constant theme of Obama not being “ready” or not having enough experience. Recent research have shown that (in test conditions) when voters are presented with one black candidate and one white candidate with exactly the same experience , they are satisfied with the white candidate but assert that the black one does not have enough experience. I remember that, when I first ran for office over twenty years ago, there were members of my own local party who were shocked when they were told that I had a degree from Cambridge University, had served four years as a city councillor etc. They just assumed that a black candidate would be under qualified.
And now John McCain has pulled, what may prove to be, a master stroke in unveiling Sarah Palin as his Vice- Presidential candidate. Americans obviously had difficulty with the idea of, not just a black President but, a black First Lady and a black family in the White House. Just when it seemed that Michelle Obama had begun to win them over, here comes Sarah Palin with her story-book white family. Americans even seem willing to overlook the unmarried seventeen year old daughter, because they are so relieved to be able to embrace the idea of a nice, young, attractive WHITE family in the White House.
All the commentators agree that any other (white) candidate would be at least ten points ahead of John McCain by now. At seventy two McCain’s age alone should have doomed his campaign. But, because Americans are so obviously struggling with the idea of voting for a black man, the two remain neck and neck in the race.
It may be that the thing that is causing Obama so many problems – his race – may help him in the end. Black Americans may be only twelve and a half per cent of the American population, but they are key voters in certain swing states specifically Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia. Black voters alone cannot elect Obama. But an unprecedented turn out by black people may help Obama squeak home in somewhere like Florida. What is clear is that, despite every rational consideration, the dead weight of racism may stop Americans making the right choice.
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