(PA Gov) Rendell: Some whites 'not ready' for Obama

[bigworld]

Source: MSNBC

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black.

"You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in remarks that appeared in Tuesday's paper.

To buttress his point, Rendell cited his 2006 re-election campaign, in which he defeated Republican challenger Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, by a margin of more than 60 percent to less than 40 percent.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23134717/

---

There are a lot of folks upset about this here in PA, but it is unfortunately the truth.

[SoFlaJet]

1. you know what

this shit doesn't matter-Obama doesn't NEED to play these games...now if it were the Clinton camp, well they could use it...Obama doesn't need to be divisive. We'll pass on this scandal...

[BlueManDude]

3. IMO this is just another dumb comment by a smart guy...

I don't see this as some coordinated message from the Clinton campaign.

[SoFlaJet]

7. exactly

we don't know what his inflection was, where the pauses were and besides-we all know he's right anyway...you think Bubba is gonna vote for a black man? Case closed...

[Divernan]

27. Bubba didn't vote for Rendell (Jewish) either.

Swann was the GOP's token, throwaway candidate. None of the GOP experienced politicos wanted to run against Eddie that year. Swann had no political or administrative experience, but WAS naive enough to believe the GOP when they told him he could be Governor. Swann thought it would be just like Ahnuld in California. The GOP money men gave Swann only a fraction of what they usually put into a Governor's race.

There are a lot of conservative old white farts in PA - mostly in the middle of the state, and they vote straight GOP anyhow. Witness they are also anti-semitic, but Rendell easily got elected.

Nah - Eddie's just sucking up to Hilary Clinton, whom he's endorsed, because he's on the shortlist for her VP selection.

[donsu]

34. why was it a dumb statements? he spoke the truth.

nt

[shanti]

38. because it was a loose cannon statement

that wasn't necessary!

[donsu]

40. what do you mean 'loose canon' how can the truth be a loose canon?

nt

[shanti]

61. jeez louise

EVERYONE knows this already! there is absolutely no reason to keep repeating it....unless he has ulterior motives :eyes:

[goclark]

65. There sure were a whole lot of white men that didn't get the

message in Virginia, Iowa and on and on.

This is exactly what Obama's message is all about ~ same old racist thinking won't work anymore.

That is lost in the 60's and stuck on stupid thinking.

Even if he thought it, he was stupid for saying it and attaching his statement to HC's campaign.

That is not fair to her ~ please tell me that she did not "approve his message."

[dogfacedboy]

75. Sen. Obama is winning the educated white male vote. n/t

[goclark]

76. Smart White Men

:smile:

[RaRa]

2. Doesn't matter, it's still a shitty thing to say

and to me smacks of racism (even if he isn't one) one his part. It's like the folks in New Hampshire saying "I'm not voting for a black because he can't get elected ELSEWHERE).

[tyne]

6. This comment

will help Obama....immensely.

[rocktivity]

23. DING DING DING! Tyne, you're our grand prize winner!

This comment will help Obama...immensely.

Yep, you go right ahead and keep playing that race card--look at how far the Clintons got with it!

:headbang:
rocknation

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. It may be shitty but it's true.

A good friend of mine thinks that if Obama gets in the blacks will become the supreme race - she is scared to death.

I am an Obama supporter. I love the guy. But there are people here in the Bible Belt who are still incredibly racist. The idea of a black president scares them silly. I don't know what he can do to overcome this mindset. I think only time will bring people around.

I do have a lot of hope for the younger people. The kids around here just don't seem to care what color someone is. And good for them!

[LibDemAlways]

21. It isn't just the Bible belt. I'm in Southern California and

there are plenty of racists here too. It isn't as overt, but it's here. Had dinner out not long ago with an old high school friend. During dinner she leaned over the table and apologized for her choice of restaurant explaining in hushed tones, "I didn't know there would be so many black people here." That's how racism exists in much of this country - in whispers.

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. Exactly. Seems to be getting just as bad for Hispanics.

I wish people would just grow up and get over it. But it's not going to happen in my lifetime.

And those same people support Bush. Now there is someone I am really afraid of.

[donsu]

37. true

nt

[zonkers]

62. Yikes. What a creepy friend you have.

[LibDemAlways]

70. I don't think she's that atypical for a middle aged

white woman who came from a well to do republican family. When she was growing up, black people were the "help." Interestingly enough, she's now married to a Hispanic man and has nothing but good things to say about his family. Some stereotypes, however, apparently die hard.

[SoFlaJet]

26. I agree LeftyLady

the other day I realized that I was born only 90 years after the Civil War ended and told my wife and son, who both looked at me like I was crazy. We've come a long way-so have I, growing up in a house where racial epitaphs were spewed on a daily basis, poisoning our minds.

[leftyladyfrommo]

29. You know, you can get over it. Even if it is really ingrained.

Around here (Kansas City) we also have reverse discrimination. Blacks only support other blacks.

You would think that by now people would realize that skin color doesn't really mean much. We are all kind of the same underneath it all.

[Chovexani]

63. What a naive comment.

Do you want to know why blacks support blacks in your city? It's because no one else will.

Color-blindness exists only in the minds of naive people who have never had to experience discrimination.

[Oak2004]

58. Yep, I sometimes point out to people that when I was a child

there were still quite a few people alive who had been born into slavery.

I occasionally point out as well that we're not as far away from the days of witch trials as we like to think, either -- certainly we're close enough, in human terms, to still feel their residual effects in society.

[Marnieworld]

44. I doubt that friend would be voting Democratic anyway

So it's not a lost vote due to race.

Democrats did not vote for Lynn Swann, white conservatives voted for Lynn Swann. There just aren't a majority of them in PA, a consistently blue state, and Rendell knows this. Some of them probably voted for Rendell because he actually had experience and was qualified and they didn't want a completely un-tested ex-football player as governor. Just the other day my husband and I were making fun of a car that had a Lynn Swann bumpersticker next to a Santorum bumpersticker. Tell me that isn't a white conservative?

This statement is almost wishful thinking since he supported CLinton. He's an Eagles fan and his team must win regardless of the facts.

[LeftHander]

59. Because a percentage of whites are racist is no basis determine who to vote for,..nt

[Tunkamerica]

64. Yeah we invented racism here in the bible belt

and we don't export. someday i'll move to the utopia i hear the rest of the country is. no hate, no bigotry, no religious nuts. and definitely no racism.

[KamaAina]

77. Does your good friend know that Sen. Obama's mom was white?

Would that assuage her feelings at all, to know that at least we get to be the co-supreme race? :sarcasm:

[ReformedChris]

Self Delete

[ReformedChris]

4. I think it was a BAD idea for Rendell to bring this up, right or wrong..

Because the talking heads are going to take this to the bank and bring racial questions into every second of HRC talk. I see no way in which this discussion helps HRC. BTW, he just downgraded his own political victory, Swann was defeated because of a weak agenda for the most part (not to mention the Repukes had a VERY bad year that year).

[enough already]

5. I assume he's talking about the upcoming primary

So he's basically calling white Democrats in his own state racists. Real nice, Ed.

[donsu]

39. you don't want him to speak the truth?

nt

[enough already]

52. Hey, I'm an Obama guy...

...so if Hillary's spokesidiot in the Commonwealth wants to call fellow Democrats racists and further fan the racial flames now that Bill is apparently locked up in a closet somewhere, it's fine with me. It backfired before and it will surely backfire again.

For a smart guy, Rendell is a real fucking moron sometimes.

[Sin]

43. Its because he knows..

Were I'm from by most of us left leaning people call this place Schuylkilltuckyvill for a reason ( hardly any culture that isn't in 50-100 miles away Highly raciest in the rural areas rebel flags on 60% of the trucks when ya hit those areas and the re pukes out that way are so backward still its like falling into a frickin time capsule hell when I was still in high school in 1998 ish the kkk showed up to demonstrate on the courthouse steps and people actually turned out in support... It's a sad state of affairs the area is purple when it comes to voting I think with the Dem's in the lead now. Most of there attention has now been diverted to any one that speaks spanish, with actual immigration raids catching large groups of illegals around the area most of the bile has shifted toward them.

so yea race is playing a big part from just the stuff I hear in between the the cable news memes thats spewed from there lips.

[amandabeech]

50. Are you from the York or Harrisburg area?

I lived in suburban Harrisburg for 7 years ending in 2006, and there was a lot of that going on.

That and teaching creationism in the schools.

[Sin]

67. harrisburg ish

From Pottsville we have our small groups of fundies and just plain rednecks as ya pass out into the farming areas but its slowly getting better .. people around the mid 20 range were all pretty lib thoe that could be a by product of not liveing in a blink ya miss it town.

[amandabeech]

69. "blink ya miss it town!" LOL!!!

I grew up in one of them in Michigan, and I think that it does affect one's brian negatively.

I lived in Mechanicsburg, and I didn't have to drive too far to start seeing the stars and bars decoration.

[SteppingRazor]

8. Yeah, my reaction to Rendell's words is kind of two-sided.

I mean, on the one hand, the immediate reaction is a negative one -- Here we go again, a guy playing the race card.

But at the same time, he's undeniably right. There ARE white people who will not vote for a black candidate. It's actually kind of stating the obvious.

[SoFlaJet]

11. is that the good Doctor

in your avatar picture Stepping?

[SteppingRazor]

12. Damn straight, SFJ!

One of my literary heroes, along with Kerouac, Bukowski, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer. I work as a journalist myself, and my writing is, admittedly, largely colored by the style of Dr. Thompson.

[SoFlaJet]

24. I just watched

Buy The Ticket Take The Ride the other night...love him..."this man has a bad heart"

[shanti]

35. yeah, it's stating the obvious

and as such, DOESN'T NEED TO BE SAID!

[Kahuna]

48. There are also white people who will not vote for a woman to be

president. I've heard from many of them. But nobody from Camp Clinton ever mentions that FACT.

[BanzaiBonnie]

10. It's reinforcing racism

It's like supporting racism by saying --- that's just the way it is.

It's time for this country to get over it.

[bigworld]

19. But it IS this way in Central PA. You can't ignore it and wish it away.

[WatchWhatISay]

36. Thats true, that was my first reaction

Thats how it is here in Texas, and probably most anywhere else.

But when you think about what the motivation was for his stating the obvious, knowing that the media would latch on to it and make it a big story, it seems like a surrogate taking a bullet to try to shake up their failing campaign.

[Strawman]

13. This is a desperation card they're playing now

Now I'm really convinced Obama is about to wrap this up. I fully expect to see Rendell making this argument on "Hardball" tonight. Tweety will eat this up. From what I heard this AM on Bill Press the numbers in working class white precincts in the Mid-Atlantic primaries undercut this claim. Obama is starting to get these voters as well.

[Demonaut]

14. insert foot in mouth, what a moron...

even if it is the truth it changes nothing

[bemildred]

15. They better get used to it, he isn't going away. nt

[tyne]

20. What would happen

if a state gov who supported Obama said, "PA will not vote for a woman". You know what would happen? Hillary would get MORE votes.

Again, this is a good thing for Obama.

Thanks for the additional votes, Gov. Rendell.

[rocktivity]

16. Lynn Swann lost due to being an idiot, not a black person

His campaign ended on the Daily Show when he said that he wasn't going to take a stand on anything.

:eyes:
rocknation

[nolabels]

68. Maybe he was thinking he could take a pass instead.

:shrug:

[bigworld]

17. Fortunately, Barack isn't seen by many as "black"

His biracial Kansas/Hawaii upbringing actually helps him among these folks who equate "black" with inner city thug culture. Even in central PA, Barack isn't seen as a "typical" black guy. This helps him immensely out here in the sticks.

[donsu]

42. you jest! he IS seen as black.

nt

[salin]

18. um - isn't that a weak statement in one's endorsement for a candidate?

Some voters won't be voting for *my* candidate, but against the other guy. The remark is as politically foolish as it is offensive.

[bigworld]

22. Big Ed doesn't always think things through fully.

[SoFlaJet]

28. and he is So 2000

ya know, Bob Shrum, Donna Brazille, Ed Rendell-these were the people we saw every night on Hardball back then

[cap]

32. PA has a huge collection of white supremacist groups

the Klan is very active in the middle of the state. I wish Rendell's remarks were seen in this context and not as a way to denigrate Obama. I dont believe that those comments were meant to say that because there are a lot of people who wont vote for a black, you must vote for Hillary. I dont think these remarks were meant this way because the same people who wont vote for a black will not vote for a woman either.


We need to acknowledge the racism and misogyny surrounding our Democratic candidates. We're not in the promised land by any stretch of the imagination. Obama is trying very hard to bring us together and is not playing on these themes. But just because he isn't bringing them up doesn't mean that they aren't there.

[salin]

33. *heh*, clearly.

[zanne]

30. We'll have to make them "ready"...

Some whites will never be ready for an African American in the White House. They'll have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

31. I applaud his candor, liberals have lost too many elections thinking their the mainstream.

This is turning into a replay of the McGovern children's crusade and we all know how well that ended.

[natrat]

41. of course it's true-but more will vote for him than clinton

[bdamomma]

45. sickening, when will people just grow up.

[aquart]

46. Not the voting ones, it seems.

[0007]

47. Holy gee willikers Mr. Rendell, this is 2008 and you're still talking

like a racist fool, maybe you've been talking to BC lately, eh?

How did you ever become Governor of one of the largest states in the union, without being discovered as a first class wank? The race card is running wild!

[eastwood2008]

49. Time to wake up

These “Super delegates” better be listening to the people and not to their special interests. Obama is winning by much larger margins than Hillary which will translate directly to votes in November. If Hillary is the nominee, that will just prove they are looking out for themselves and not the American people and a lot of us will be forced to vote for McCain just to send a clear message that we aren’t going to take it any more. Start sending the message to all your Democrat politicians and let them know to vote the voice of the people. PS. I'm a 44 yr old married white male, with two kids and plenty of money.

[BklnDem75]

51. Lynn Swann is a bad example.

All Rendell has proven is that black conservatives don't do so well in their own party.

[madmom]

53. To deny the fact that there IS still racism in this country will not make it go away... it

only helps it by keeping it under wraps and letting it fester like the cancer that it is. It needs to be said over and over keep it in the forefront along with sexism, some people (my brothers in-laws for example) were raised in this manner and see nothing terribly wrong with it.

[LibDemAlways]

71. There's plenty of racism. Sad, but true. I am well aquainted with

a bunch of elderly Democrats who will not vote for Obama for one reason and one reason only. You could talk until you were blue in the face and it wouldn't change their minds. They voted for Hillary in the primary and will sit out the general if Obama's on the ticket.

[DuaneBidoux]

54. Some whites aren't ready for a black president. Some men not for a woman. Some evangelicals not for

a Mormon, some protestants (still) not and never for a catholic.

And I (personally) would never vote for either an evangelical like Huckebee or a fundamentalist Muslim.

Could this be an Obama operative? If not Obama ought to hire the guy and get him to work for him. With moves like this Obama is looking at the nomination for sure because 99 of a 100 Dems will change their vote to shove this one down his throat.

[jimnasium]

57. I think it all balances out...

Some people won't vote for Obama because he's black.
Some people won't vote for Clinton because she's a woman.
Some other people won't vote for Clinton because she's a Clinton.

Come to think about it... The net advantage swings to Obama.

[LostinVA]

55. Know what? He's right

Probably especially over in Penntucky. And, in Southern NJ, where some of my Freeper relatives live. They would NEVER vote for anyone black. Or some a woman.

He was far from diplomatic, but he's right. And, I bet some Pennsylvanians didn't vote for him, either: he's Jewish.

[Bo]

56. Stick a fork in Billary...there well done.

IN SEE VICE-PRESIDENT HILLARY...

[9119495]

60. Would a racist (in this day and age) vote for a woman?

The same argument could be made Ed, though he endorsed Clinton instead of Edwards.

[JaneQPublic]

66. Yes, there are narrow-minded people who won't vote for an African-American

However, often these are the same people who don't believe a woman could run the country either.

But it really doesn't matter, since people of that ilk only vote Repug, anyway.

[Kitty Herder]

72. Racist whites don't generally vote for Dems anyway. nt

[Megahurtz]

73. What an idiotic statement. n/t

[bklyncowgirl]

74. Those peple aren't voting for a Democrat anyway--so bit deal. nt