Democrats Nominate Obama

Democrats have nominated Barack Obama for a second term as president, setting up a showdown this fall with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

If Obama Loses, Would the Party Truly Be Over for Democrats?

By: Erin Aubry Kaplan

Would black folks desert the Democratic party if Obama loses the election? I hardly think so.

First, of all, none of us expected a black man in any party to get this far, and the fact Obama’s a Democrat actually reflects well on them (even if some Democrats fought his nomination internally).

Second, and more important, we wouldn’t blame the Democrats for a loss -- we would blame a racist society, and that goes deeper than any party affiliation. As universally supportive as they’ve been of their candidate, black people long ago accepted the possibility that this election will not go the way they’d like. And what else is new?

“People are already preparing for Obama to lose,” a black friend of mine, a staunch Democrat, said to me recently. “We’re just happy that he’s got this far and that he’s alive. We’re ready for the fact he could lose even though all the polls say that he’ll win.”

Call it informed cynicism: In the end, history simply has not been on our side. Besides, we’re seasoned enough to know that one black elected official will not, or cannot, change our collective fortune. At this point we’ve had plenty of history-making elected officials and appointees – Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell – who’ve meant very little for our progress; they often actually work against it.

We do have more hope that Obama will change that dynamic because he’s running for the highest office in the land and will be theoretically calling the shots. But that still could mean that he’s merely going to be a creature of the status quo. It would be nice for him to address issues of importance to black people because he’s black too, but nobody’s taking that for granted.

As Amiri Baraka pointed out to me on NPR last month, Obama’s running for president, not the president of the NAACP. Baraka went on to say that the best we can do for ourselves is to elect the man and form a progressive caucus to keep his feet to the fire, hold him to his highest ideals.

The biggest issue is really our own failure to hold any politician accountable to an agenda we should push every year, not just in 2008. Many black folk (including me, I confess) are also holding out hope that Obama’s keeping a few of his more radical ideals under wraps until he’s safely esconced in the White House.

COMMENTARY....

Who's Racist Now? Republicans get a bad rap on race. But, Democrats may be the ones who have shown their true colors this political season.

BY ROBERT A. GEORGE

Sept. 2, 2008-- Republicans are trying to get their national nominating convention underway after deep worry about the effects of Hurricane Gustav, but the Grand Old Party faces other significant challenges, including an unpopular president and a country frustrated with both the economy and foreign policy. And a Democratic ticket—led by a charismatic African American that has enthralled much of the electorate—certainly doesn't help the GOP with its difficulties attracting black voters.

That said, the fractious primary contest between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama demonstrated that the Democrats have their own thorny problems with race. True, the party put on a unified front in Denver. Bill and Hillary Clinton both said the right things in endorsing and making the case for Barack Obama as the next president. But the primary season was rife with racial tension. When Hillary won both Kentucky and West Virginia in later contests, pundits focused on the apparent racial resistance to Obama from white, working-class voters. And Hillary herself made no secret of her intention to play on their fears.

Stereotypical "redneck" voters may be easy targets. But, the most caustic criticisms of Obama came from a trickier camp to explain: liberal intellectuals and white upper-middle-class Democrats who, in supporting Hillary, displayed overt, often racially infused contempt for Obama.

This hostility seems to go far beyond political rivalry. It seemed to suggest a sense of entitlement that this young black politician should not have the right to move up so fast, without first receiving the blessing of white appointed leaders. Women were especially fierce in their attacks in a way that suggested more than just gender-related grievances. Hillary and her supporters, women who themselves often facing the "not experienced enough" assertion, used the accusation as a weapon against Obama.

PUMAs ("Party Unity My Ass")—a group of disgruntled Hillary voters, primarily made up of Democratic, upper-middle-class, white women—arrived in Denver still aggrieved, some vowing to vote for McCain. Since Hillary Clinton formally ended her campaign, the PUMA Web site has been filled with angry, racially-tinged comments on how "vicious" the Obama campaign is. He is sarcastically described as the media's "golden boy"—with a dismissive "Oops, was that racist?" line added.

Former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, of course, caused a major stir when she declared that the only reason Obama was leading the race, was, well, because of his race. On the last day of the convention, as Obama prepared his acceptance speech, Ferraro printed an op-ed piece explaining what Hillary supporters want: Recognition from Barack Obama that Hillary was a victim of media sexism—and to denounce it.

Who's Racist Now?....

Obama, Wright, and the Black Church

Obama, Rev Wright and the politics of 'love thy neighbor'.



Prof. Dwight Hopkins of the University of Chicago talks to Paul Jay about the political consequences of Rev. Moss's sermon, in terms of health, education, care for seniors, and the poor.

Dr. Hopkins asks if Obama can live up to his rhetoric and if the 'movement' for change will be able to push an Obama presidency in a more progressive direction.

Dwight N. Hopkins teaches at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His latest works are Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion; Walk Together Children: black and womanist theologies, church and theological education; Another World Is Possible: Spiritualities and Religions of Global Darker Peoples. Professor Hopkins is senior editor of the Henry McNeil Turner/Sojourner Truth Series in Black Religion (Orbis Books). He is an ordained American Baptist minister.



Prof. Dwight Hopkins of the University of Chicago talks to Paul Jay about Rev. Wright's statements about Farrakhan and AIDS, and the effect his comments have had on Senator Obama's presidential campaign.