17 October 2008

Why Obama Might Not Win by a Landslide

No, I don't think that all (or even most) of McCain's supporters are like this. And no, I don't think that this is fiction (which is to say that I think that these folks speak for a number of Americans).

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That video is by Al Jazeera. That sounds Arab. Can't be trusted.

Gypsy at Heart said...

Ron: The opinions expressed in the video do not surprise me in any way. I do wonder often though, especially now that we come closer to election day and the polarization which has been manifesting itself boils so much closer into this scary and (in my opinion) unfounded animosity of a candidate like Barack Obama, whether McCain worries how this anti-Muslim, racial based hatred might affect his adopted daughter.

She is a lovely dark skinned Bangladeshi born girl. Bangladesh as you might know is 90% Muslim. Is the child tainted you think by the circumstances of her birth? Is every Bangladeshi citizen tainted by the circumstances of their geographic and religious heritage? Will she think herself so when the party her father represents has strong factions that evidence racial hatred and religious bigotry? I think often of Bridget. I wonder what her parents might help her to understand of this insupportable demonstration of everything that I think The United States of America does NOT stand for.

Beyond it all, I am left with a profound sense of sadness that we have come to such an impasse. The good folks in the video will not change their views, I cannot ever give up mine. Where does this country find a middle road? How do we originate some sense of conciliation that at least fosters a compromise? Is that an impossibility you think?

In this melting pot world I, who am a Latin American born Catholic that converted to Islam when marrying an British born Iranian who is more 'Christian' in his beliefs and actions than many a churchgoer I know; We, who proudly choose this country to reside in with a patriotic love of place I can attest goes deeper than that which so many natural citizens do not ever demonstrate, what hope are we ever to have that somehow, someday, people like those in the video might look at a family like mine and judge us in this unjustly and incorrect manner. I wonder...

P.S. I do believe that is the LONGEST commentary I have ever posted to your blog.

Ron Davison said...

Ben,
makes sense, I guess, that American exceptionalism would be called into question by some other culture. (You must be right, though.)

Milena,
That is an angle I had not even thought about - McCain's daughter. I do know that Bush / Rove de-railed McCain during the 2000 primaries claiming that McCain had "fathered" a black girl. The charges worked - one hopes, though, that outside South Carolina Republican primaries - the charges that Obama is Muslim ought not to have as big an impact in a general election. This is the country that re-elected Bush, though.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Al Jazeera reported on the Obama supporters who wore the "Palin is a c_nt" t-shirts at an Obama rally? Where's the interview of those fine, well-spoken, intelligent folks? Yeah, Al Jazeera is fair and balanced at it's best. ;-)

These people are obviously not independent thinkers, Ron. We can all gather up examples of the simple minded and display them, claim that "this is the opponent, this is what we are up against", but come on. It happens on both sides. Actually, I see awful examples of misogyny and sexism coming from the left.

All we can do is rise above it, I suppose. I come here to try and see things from a different point of view. If your readers want to ridicule me, it shows lack of....TOLERANCE.

My hope in this is to meet some people who are above the hatefulness.

I'd like to think that people can be kind regardless. I just don't know.

Allen said...

I'm wondering why Al Jazeera chose to interview these folks and then air it. I really don't understand why they would show the extreme McCain supporters and not the extreme Obama supporters. Maybe someone can tell me. What saddens me is I spent the 1st 25 years of my life in Ohio, the state these interviews were done, and I do understand well both the fervent Republican support in the state and the equally fervent distrust of democrats. But I've lived in Oregon since '89, in the Portland area, which is decidely pro-Democrat, with numerous Obama supporters probably as passionately opposed to McCain as the folks in the video are passionately opposed to Obama.

@Pinky: I don't understand your sentence that starts out, "If your readers want to ridicule me . . .". I've been reading and contributing to Ron's blog for several months now. Have you posted and been ridiculed in the past? Your words make me think you have. If true, that's a surprise to me 'cause I've come to admire Ron's posters as being above ridiculing. Then again, it only needs to happen once . . .

Anonymous said...

@big al: Obviously there are extreme Obama supporters, too, but I haven't seen any blatant examples of racism as a result. Have you?

Ron Davison said...

Pinky,
I would never ridicule you for supporting McCain. Now Bush supporters - Bush supporters I would ridicule.
There is a weird backstory on those t-shirts (I did not know about the tshirts until you mentioned them or the backstory until last night.) You can find it at youtube, entering "he said it first."

Allen,
there has been ridicule here - usually it has been friends teasing me, but, as LH can attest, we've had a few conservative buddies of mine walk through and take shots at me and my readers. And to be fair, I have resorted to ridicule of Bush more than once. And really, what is a bit a ridicule compared to the wake of destruction he's leaving behind?

Ben,
I'm sure that there are some racially motivated folks within the black community who support Obama. Or even whites, for that matter, who are eager to prove to themselves and the world that we're not like that anymore and can elect a black. Racism is not confined to any one race.

Anonymous said...

Look at this website:
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/a_video_that_could_change_the_election/

Wow!
These people are really stooping now! Why on earth does it matter if Obama is not really a natural born United State citizen? The Constitution is Old and out of touch! In four years if this works out, maybe we can elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.