On Tue, 18 Mar 2008, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>> mechanism by which electing O will somehow "paralyze" the black
>> activist community -- will somehow make them give up their radicalness
>> in some way that voting for Bill Clinton didn't. Or Dukakis, or
>> Mondale, or Jimmy Carter. Or Hillary Clinton.
>>
>> What am I missing?
>
> [WS:] Social proximity and the size of the niche. The chances of
> Clinton or Dukakis competing with the figures in the narrow niche of
> radical black identity politics are next to nil. This cannot be said
> about Obama - he can be plausibly seen as a radical (of a sort) black
> identity activist, and thus he represents competition if not a threat to
> the figures already occupying that niche. That explains the opposition
> to his candidacy coming from those quarters.
I'm not sure this makes sense, Wojtek -- the whole premise of Ford's argument is that Obama is being very widely embraced in those quarters, not opposed. And there's no argument there, he is being embraced; the only argument is over the meaning and effects of that embrace.
On your argument, it seems the opposite should be happening.
Michael