Race and its (Positive) Effect on the Presidential Race

So even though I haven't really been pleased with the coverage of race in this year's Presidential race (i.e., I'm clearly ignoring part of my identity by voting for either Obama or Clinton, Obama isn't black/white enough, the Dems have unresolved issues with race still, Jeremiah Wright, Geraldine Ferraro, etc.) outside of Obama's speech on race, which I personally thought was so on-point and thought-provoking, I'm posting this interesting article on what it is to be of mixed-race in America.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/us/politics/31race.html

Race is such a complex issue in America, even almost 40 years after Dr. King was assassinated. I think is why I was so disgusted with the media trying to make it seem like I as a black woman was conflicted about who I should vote for based on physical characteristics. It's also disheartening to see/hear instances of someone thinking that they've been discriminated against but are automatically dismissed because people think that since there are no Jim Crow signs up anymore or that we're in southern California that racism doesn't exist. At the same time, there are some individuals who allege race discrimination at every corner, which I also think is bad because it does diminish the instances where discrimination does in fact occur.

But this is precisely why we need to have more candid discussions about race in America, and why I hope these discussions don't end on Nov. 5. We ALL make judgments about people based on their ethnicity, skin color, how they wear their hair, etc., but before we can really embrace our differences, we should try to understand why some of our differences are sensitive areas for some.

That's your public service announcement for the day. No more holding of hands and singing Kumbaya from me. I promise ;)

Where are the Dems Oppo?

It seems that in the past few weeks there have been a variety of articles about how the Republicans would attack Obama in the general election. There was the RNC event a few weeks ago where they outlined their plan for attacking Obama. It seems every week there is a new story or article regarding strategies for going after him. I am not surprised that the Republicans are gearing up but where are the Dems? Why are there no stories on ways to hit McCain?

Part of the problems for the Democrats has been their inability to go negative with the Republicans. Yes, Dems haven't decided on a candidate yet and therefore can't truly prepare to hit McCain until they have a nominee but thematically Clinton or Obama could hit him on the same issues. As a frustrated Democrat, I really would like to see some strategy, some early plans to attack McCain without involving the NYT.

Howard Dean, please take some of that enthusiasm from your 2004 campaign and do some good opposition research and develop some strong strategies for hitting the 72 year old Senator. You know they Republicans have because it is all over the paper.

Obama and Republicans Skip 'State of the Black Union'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/23/obama.sobu/index.html

I, for one, am not quite sure how much of a story Obama's absence at this event is, but I *do* think it's notable who else *didn't* show up...This isn't to say that I'm giving Obama a pass for skipping this event in order to campaign, it's just that I'm pretty sure he's aware of the issues plaguing the black community since he's lived every day of his life as a black man, and he can definitely relate to the black experience. But his absence is a problem, at least for the media, because he's black. Shouldn't the real problem be that no Republicans showed up? And isn't it bad that even the media isn't surprised that no Republicans came to the event? I understand that Republicans have pretty much written off getting black people to vote for them for 40 years now, but I think that not attending events like this perpetuates the stereotype that Republicans don't care about black people or the issues plaguing the black community at all- something that I don't believe is true.

I think that the nature of politics in this country is due for a major change...Our generation holds some different beliefs than our parents, and with this primary season so far, we're seeing that young people aren't holding so tightly to party lines the way our parents are. Now would be a good time for Republicans to try to win some of us back...So why aren't they doing it?

Weekend Retreat Revelation

This past weekend I drove down the coast to spend the weekend with about 20 other College Republicans. As most political junkies would, we were watching Senator Obama's victory speech in South Carolina Saturday night. Even though there weren't any Obama supporters in the room, we were all in awe of his charisma and speaking skills. He could have said anything that night and the crowd around him would have eaten it up.

Plus, any time a Clinton loses an election, it warms College Republican hearts.

After Obama’s speech ended, two discussions began amongst us. The first dealt with the obvious trouble Republicans will be in if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee. For someone as young and inexperienced as Senator Obama to have catapulted into superstar status in such a short amount of time is not unheard of in the political world. However, Obama is a scary thought to Republicans, as one might imagine. Hopefully, it will scare Republicans into uniting behind whichever candidate wins our own party’s nomination.

That brings us to the second conversation.

Obama, via his speech, made quite an impression on about a quarter of the people in the room who began insisting that they would choose Obama over whichever Republican candidate they absolutely despise. There are clearly deep divides within the Republican Party over whom to nominate, and there were clearly deep divides within this small group of College Republicans, who are friendly and from the same state and who have worked together many times in the past. This fact says something about where the Republican Party is going.

The lesson I pulled away from this weekend’s retreat is this: if Republicans want a real chance at victory this year, we are going to have to pull together behind whoever wins our party’s nomination and only then can we philosophically re-define what it means to be a Republican.