To: ChinuSFO who wrote (2915 ) 10/14/2007 8:19:03 PM From: zeta1961 Respond to As the authors of this editorial indicate, I believe he's not effectively shown that his abilities as a candidate supercede the fears folk may have about his race impacting the general election..and I do hope he can do something about this..yet I don't know how he can unless like JFK and his catholocism, brings it up directly on the stump?..cmonitor.com But of course we're not color-blind. And those of us who want to be color-blind cannot resist the suspicion that a large percentage of the populace is not with us on this. Thus even people inclined to vote for Obama can easily find a reason not to. That reason would be that the country is not ready for a black president. Or, put another way, a lot of people, older people especially, those who vote in the greatest proportion, won't vote for Obama because of the color of his skin. He has to connect with voters in ways in which he has so far failed to do. He has to show voters that he is not only the best candidate in the field but also that his race is not a subtly - or even silently - exploitable liability in the general election. Of all the major presidential candidates who have come to the paper over the years, Obama won the prize for candor and directness. Candidates are dodgers and shifters, expert at saying what they want to say rather than answering the questions you ask. Not Obama. Whether we asked about his energy level, his sometimes professorial demeanor or his use of cocaine as a teenager, he gave us straight answers. If he were president, he said, the world would look at the United States differently. African-American children would look at themselves and their prospects differently, and white children would look at African-American children differently. [This is fine for the choir but in no way convinces those resistant to a Black POTUS]he said the majority of Americans now believed in the principle of equal treatment of all citizens. He added that most people spent little time considering the gap between this ideal and the reality in America. For New Hampshire Democrats, being realistic about race poses a dilemma. They believe they are in position to recapture the White House in 2008. An unpopular war, Republican fiscal negligence and the results of the last election have all fed this belief. So have the GOP's public soul-searching and the weakness of its presidential field. But he will succeed only if he is able to convince voters that his qualities as a potential president cancel their fears about where the country really stands on race. Although this is an unfair burden in an already difficult quest, it is also a real one.
