But leaders are always voted in on the basis of lies. No one ever debates the real issues, because the swing voters are too stupid to understande them. Anyone who *thinks* about things will stick with a Party for life unless the situation changes radicaly.

“Voters in Arkansas, Arizona, California, and Florida have demonstrated the hatred and bigotry of the new nigger in America: the homosexual. Antiquated religious dogma, backed by millions of dollars to spread blatent lied designed to appeal to people’s lower-natures (fear, anger, and more fear) have truly stained what should otherwise be a great day for America…

Still, it was a fantastic victory in the right direction. Hopefully, the example set by Obama and his supporters will spread, and the bigotry and hatred demostrated by those states will one day reverse the decisions made last night”

Hmmm, interesting. Here’s an excerpt from this year’s Vice Presidential debate:

“IFILL: Let’s try to avoid nuance, Senator. Do you support gay marriage?

BIDEN: No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically the decision to be able to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths the determination what you call it.”

It seems to me that the Obama administration supports the results of what happened in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Florida.

It’s often been said that for any individual from a disenfranchised minority to succeed in the white culture, they have to work twice as hard and be twice as smart as their competition.

That’s why I voted for Obama,,,

GAry 7

“Remember, remember the 5th of November!” (V for Vendetta)

Let’s see what the day brought the world. Let’s hope that the hope in Obama is not in vain!

I mean, what other job can really prepare you to be President of the United States? Prime Minister of Great Britain maybe?

LOL!

Have you seen our current Prime Minister?

“If I had gone to any one of the rallys/parties that broke out – the ones where black people were in tears – and asked some tough questions, I would have been met with a blank stare.”
Obama voters = emotional blacks incapable of raising logical support for their vote. Oh yes, again with the baseless generalization. That sounds like racism to me.

“People saw a black man on the ticket and let their emotions take over. Votes were cast based on the amount of melanin an individual has in his skin.”
OK. That explains McCain voters, but…

“I never thought I would live to see the day where a black man is President.” How many times have we heard and seen that statement in the last 12 hours?
That sentiment doesn’t arise from a vacuum. People who have studied US history understand the origins.

I celebrated Obama’s victory in a ballroom crowded with fellow supporters. They were from many races: true American polychromatic. Didn’t see that at McCain’s concession.

And attaching emotion to a moment of historical significance is nothing to be apologized for. Nor does it render the event somehow “wrong.” Why did people weep on July 20, 1969? And were those tears an indictment of the US space program, exposing it for the irrational boondoggle it must have been? Not at all.

(And that’s my real name up at the top of the post; no anonymity invoked. Thanks for spelling it correctly should you care to address me.)

Mac and PC?

Welcome to the essential tribal nature of humanity. It has all sorts of modern trappings and rationalizations using our painstakingly evolved capacity for intelligence, but underneath it all is the biological wiring resulting from tribal war and the benefits it brought back in the hazy dawn of human sentience.

I mean,forget race and religion. Look how rabid people can get over things like XBox360 versus PS3. Sheesh!

Let’s enjoy the warmth of the sun’s rays on our faces, eat a collective meal, and be happy that there wasn’t DEATH FROM THE SKIES last night.

It’s a great day to be alive, folks, and today is very different from yesterday, for a myriad of reasons. Regardless of ideologies or dogmas, we all live together on this little blue dot out in a corner of immense, dark, and frigid space. For a non-descript planet whirling around a completely average star, we sure are a complex bunch.

That’s the next step; the first step is that the man was elected at all. Progress doesn’t come all at once.

When racism disappears, with everybody understanding it is reprehensible, color-influenced votes will disappear by themselves.

Obviously we are not there yet, but hopefully having the first African-American president now will help set the table such that we do not have these kind of arguments 20 years from now. I am thinking it can only help reduce racism, unless Obama really messes up and exacerbates things.

And yes, I am an idealist.

I am in perfect agreement with you and to me, that very point should put an end to this “argument”. The “debate” is pointless because we probably would have gone the same route/discourse should McCain have won (“Republicans won ’cause of white racists refusing to vote for a colored person, that tipped the scale”).

Note that in my view of democracy, nobody is to criticise anybody’s reason to vote, that is private. You’ll never get rid of the “color-influenced vote”, on either side. You just have to accept those votes, and condemn racism in all aspects of life (not just politics).

That said, I believe I am in the same boat as TruthSeeker in that I do not think the majority of voters voted for Obama in support of any particular policies of his. I don’t, however, think that that is something particular to him, and in fact the same could be said about anyone running for office.

My apologies if those other posts I listed were not you. The language is oddly similar, so forgive my apparently incorrect conclusion. And for the record, at no time did I call you racist, merely a troll. By the way, racism is not dependent upon a person’s own race, so your background is moot.

Also for the record, at no time have I seen you post any data to back up your claims, to wit:

“The fact that intelligent people supported Obama has nothing to do with the wrongness of the fact that most others supported him for no valid reason.”

If this is just your opinion, as you later suggest, you may wish to express it without using loaded words such as “fact.”

Just a helpful suggestion for future clarity.

Like most of the rest of the world I am looking forward to seeing the US taken in a new direction. To anyone who still feels bitter about the result – be thankful that you have a democratic process, there are many around the world who don’t – imagine that.

On the other hand, my own state passed a bigoted, anti-gay proposition that makes me deeply ashamed to be a Californian.

Can’t have everything, I guess.

Although I do not agree with any of the statements he has made regarding Obama’s election, I do agree that his comments have not come off sounding racist to me. He has not characterized a group of people based on their skin color and declared them inferior because of that color. He has stated that the majority of people (no specific race identified) who supported Obama and voted for him did so because of Obama’s color. It is other commenters who have been mentioning specific racial groups.

@TruthSpeaker

You have maintained your stance that the majority of those who voted for Obama did so from an emotional standpoint and did so because of his skin color, rather than on any of his policies or other aspect of the man. You have based this opinion on anecdotal evidence (emotional responses to Obama’s election that the media has chosen to focus on). Of the examples you have provided, none of them have explicitly said “I voted for him because he is black.”

Those who have argued against you have presented the CNN exit polls as evidence that for those ho voted for (or against) Obama, race was not a factor or was only a minor consideration. We don’t know the methodology of the poll or what measures were taken to reduce error; people that respoded may have downplayed race as a factor in an effort to sound more PC. That said, though, what is your response to that poll?

Also, of the people who responded here saying they voted for Obama, none have said that they voted for him because he is black. Does that have any impact on your position?

Did some people vote for Obama out of some emotional response? Undoubtedly (fear of McCain/Palin, distaste for Bush, dislike of the current Republican party, hope that Obama can make a difference, etc.). Was that emotional response unanimously related to Obama’s skin color? Possible, but unlikely. Of those who voted for Obama because he is black, were their numbers crucial to his victory? It doesn’t seem like it.

The skeptical, reasoned position would stop short of a definite “He won because he is black.” If, as you claim, you are truly a skeptic, then you will find solid evidence to support your stance or, barring the availability of solid facts, allow for the possibility that there may be another explanation.

2.) I am aware of the failings of Bush. I am no fan of his, nor McCain. To bring up these two in response to my initial post is pointless. If BA makes a post about Palin’s antiscience stance, and people respond by criticizing Obama he calls them out on it and tells them to stay on topic. I will do the same thing.

3.) While I hate to do it, I guess I will defend the racism charge. I am no racist. Many of my coworkers are black as is my boss (and she’s a woman to boot). I am proud and happy to work under her because she has shown herself to be a capable leader and very qualified for her job. I do not believe she was put in place because of the color of her skin. She is actively working as my mentor as I work my up through the ranks of our organization and I am glad to have her help. I would happily vote for a black man, an Asian woman, or any other combination one can think of. I choose whom to support based on their policies, beliefs, and principles.

4.) Believe it or not, my issue is not with the fact that Obama was elected. I am taking issue with what I believe to be the motive behind a significant (significant enough to get him elected) number of his supporters.

5.) Many people have said things to the effect of, “Well how many people voted for McCain because he is white?” I don’t know, but anyone that votes for anyone because of the color of their skin is an idiot. There is a video floating around the internet showing McCain supporters shouting down a group of Obama supporters. When pressed for details the McCain supporters say things like, “I would never vote for a black man.” I find their beliefs and statements equally stupid as those that vote for someone because they are black.

Obama can be a truly great US President and he will bring a lot of good people from both sides into his administration. Something both Lincoln and FDR did.

Reminds me of a great leader and gentleman who long ago ran two positive campaigns, held to his beliefs, and ultimately stood on top of the Berlin wall to make a simple, unassailable demand.

I wish Obama well with his turn.

I only caught a snippet of McCain’s speech, but what I heard sounded a lot more like the pre-Presidential race McCain than what we’ve heard recently.