many top GOP strategists believe he can defeat Barack Obama - and by a margin exceeding President Bush's Electoral College victory in 2004.
^^^^^ CB: Or the optimism of racists. Sure . It's as simple as Black and w/White. Could be that white people still outnumber White people ( see below) by a significant amount, and so we could still get a neo-Bradley effect in November.
Charles
Race in the Presidential Race
The Presidential campaign has the central issue of American history - race - in our faces. Race is always important in U.S. politics, but it is not always so explicit as in the current situation.
As Barack Obama’s slogan - change - appropriately declares, there is a potential big change, a possible reform of racism. To wit, a large number of white people are voting for a Black person for President. When White Iowans voted in a plurality for the Black candidate, they signaled that White Americans might be ready to make history this time.
Let me explain a little more. Major reforms of institutional or structural racism can only be made by shifts in the thinking , general conduct and political activity of white people . (And , yes,votes for powerful offices are institutional). It is not the activity and habitual conduct of Black and other people of color that constitutes racism. That is only reaction to racism. So, it will be a change in what white masses do in relation to people of color that will be the substance of reforming racism.
The current election is a major test of white masses: Are they willing to make a significant divestment of racism ?
The Democratic primaries have seemed to indicate that there are _W_hite people and there are _w_hite people. In Iowa and Oregon, the White people were in the majority. In West Virginia and Kentucky white people were in the majority. The historic question before us is : Will White people or white people pick the next President ?
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