The Race Card

[Brian96]

It is a time-honored tradition in American politics to pick your VP based largely on the weightier of two considerations: 1) He or she represents a constituency in which the candidate does not poll well and/ or 2) he or she represents a constituency in which the opponent polls well (in order to offset that effect). A great example of this is JFK's choice of LBJ as running mate to get a piece of the southern and protestant vote.

Clearly Obama has a distinct advantage over McCain on both of the factors above, so this is obviously a situation in which one would want to try to equalize that effect. The tricky bit is that the factor in question is race. This raises the question: Can McCain choose an African American running mate?

It seems to me to be a classic "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. It certainly seems in McCain's best interest to attempt to loosen the opponent's death grip on that 12-14% of the population, and help to bring the "issues" to the fore. On the other hand, if McCain chooses a black running mate it will almost certainly be loudly decried as "playing the race card," and technically that would be true.

Discuss.

[Guisslapp]

Blacks are not in play in this election - unless Obama goes all-Whitey all of a sudden.

[Brian96]

Blacks are not in play in this election - unless Obama goes all-Whitey all of a sudden.

But what if McCain picked Charles Barkley for his running mate. Don't you think that would loosen some things up?

[johnnylightnin]

What?



Okay.

[daybreaker2]

But what if McCain picked Charles Barkley for his running mate. Don't you think that would loosen some things up?

That would be turrible, just turrible

[tigtoo30]

It would be to McCain's advantage to get a perceived young and dynamic up and comer as a VP in order to galvanize the younger voters who are enamoured with BHO. On the other hand, it would be smart for BHO to get a older, more established, and yes I believe white, VP candidate.

If McCain get's anyone near his age, it's his nail in the coffin, and if BHO grabs a young minority, I think it could sink him as well.

You need a broad range of voters to win an election.

[Cool Hand Clyde]

Flip-Flop!

http://wbztv.com/politics/jonkeller/....2.796143.html

[TYLERTECHSAS]

Here go the LIBS/DEMS with their race baiting again.

LINK

Howard Dean Calls GOP The 'White Party'...

[DawgyNWindow]

Here go the LIBS/DEMS with their race baiting again.

Amazing they would pull this kind of stuff.

The current administration has had more "people of color" in real decision-making positions than any other administration I can think of. Nobody talks about it much, because unlike the dems/libs, they are not used as "tokens" by the Republican party.

When they're Republican, we seem to be able to look past their skin color.

[arkansasbob]

Amazing they would pull this kind of stuff.

The current administration has had more "people of color" in real decision-making positions than any other administration I can think of. Nobody talks about it much, because unlike the dems/libs, they are not used as "tokens" by the Republican party.

When they're Republican, we seem to be able to look past their skin color.

don't fool yourself. they're tokens. they may be highly qualified, but you can bet they were chosen at least partly based on their skin color.

[arkansasbob]

for what it's worth, i think there's still a pretty decent chance that obama may not be the democratic nominee. look for the clinton machine to make one last attempt to snatch the nomination in the next 9 days.

(my apologies if this has already been discussed at length. i have not payed much attention to the election news or to the pawlitics board in quite a while)

[DogtorEvil]

played again:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...says-mcca.html

Obama Says McCain Campaign Comment on this Being an Election Not About Issues Means False Attacks on Him

September 05, 2008 1:28 PM

DURYEA, Pa. -- "I know that I’m not your typical presidential candidate," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told executives and employees of the Schott glass company Friday afternoon, "and I just want to be honest with you. I know that."

"And I know that the temptation is to say, 'You know what? …The guy hasn’t been there that long in Washington.,' You know, 'he’s got funny name,' You know, 'we’re not sure about him,'" Obama continued. "And that’s what the Republicans, when they say, 'This isn’t about issues, it’s about personalities,' what they’re really saying is, 'We’re going to try to scare people about Barack. So we’re going to say that you know, maybe he’s got Muslim connections or we’re going to say that, you know, he hangs out with radicals or he’s not patriotic.'

"Just making stuff up," Obama said, "or that he never’s gotten anything done even though over the last 20 years I’ve given health care to kids who didn’t have it."

[daybreaker2]

played again:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...says-mcca.html

Obama Says McCain Campaign Comment on this Being an Election Not About Issues Means False Attacks on Him

September 05, 2008 1:28 PM

DURYEA, Pa. -- "I know that I’m not your typical presidential candidate," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told executives and employees of the Schott glass company Friday afternoon, "and I just want to be honest with you. I know that."

"And I know that the temptation is to say, 'You know what? …The guy hasn’t been there that long in Washington.,' You know, 'he’s got funny name,' You know, 'we’re not sure about him,'" Obama continued. "And that’s what the Republicans, when they say, 'This isn’t about issues, it’s about personalities,' what they’re really saying is, 'We’re going to try to scare people about Barack. So we’re going to say that you know, maybe he’s got Muslim connections or we’re going to say that, you know, he hangs out with radicals or he’s not patriotic.'

"Just making stuff up," Obama said, "or that he never’s gotten anything done even though over the last 20 years I’ve given health care to kids who didn’t have it."

And? Show me where Republicans *havent* tried scaring people based on his name, the fact he went to Indonesia when 6 (oooh, he must be a muslim... even though I personally cant remember anything from when I was 6), being "unpatriotic" (the whole lapel pin thing... I mean really?), and the Ayers thing (even though Ayers has been nothing but an upstanding citizen for the last 30 years)

[DogtorEvil]

Obama played the race card again. Admit it. It's all he has in his deck.

[DogtorEvil]

and for a guy who keeps crying about wanting to talk the issues, he sure does what he can to avoid talking about them,

Chickening out of the toown hall meetings that he agreed to