Should Obama have emphasized that he is a BI-Racial candidate?

[Armstead]

In light of The Clintons apparently successful drive to make this a racially polarized campaign, I wonder if Obama should have emphasized what is actually one of his strongest assets in those terms.

He is half-white and half-black. With a foot in both identities, he is in a unique position to bridge the racial divide.

I wonder if he could have both avoided the minefield of race, while offering a chance to heal racial divisions.

Or would that have made him seem to "odd" ?

How do otehrs see this?

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Would he be getting all the black vote in SC then?

If this wasn't all about him being the black candidate?

[Alexander]

6. He's not getting "all the black vote" in SC now.

75-80% is not all.

[ecstatic]

15. they said 59% just now nt

[mathewsleep]

2. i'm an optimist

i like to think that he's half white, not half black.
just kidding. ohh god, forgive me. seriously, just kidding. don't attack me, at least not in the face.

[Occam Bandage]

3. No. That's a mixed narrative. Post-racial worked better.

[no name no slogan]

4. I don't think it would matter

in America, if you're 1/32 black, you're still black in the eyes of people who only care about race.

[MediaBabe]

25. Sadly, you are correct

He looks black. He doesn't look white. Bottom line is that racism exists in America and for those who can't get over it he will never be treated white half the time.

[robbedvoter]

5. It wasObama campaign who started the bogus MLK outrage. Your premise sucks

and so does your question.

[Essene]

14. Stop lying. Here are some dates... for you to deal with. (stop lying)

Clinton's camp went on a severe smear campaign out of Iowa. The New Hampshire Primary was on the 8th, I believe. The "truce" was on the 14th. This doesn't even address the "Muslim, drug using radical" stuff or how they play the Gender card while race baiting.

• "An untested man who offers false hope." "We don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered." 1/4
  
  
• Govern in prose (not poetry) 1/6
  
  
• MLK comment 1/7
  
  
• Assassination! 1/7
  
  
• All qaeda will strike! 1/7
  
  
• Fairy tale rant (the famous bill video) 1/8
  
  
• Shucks n Jives 1/10
  
  
• Hip black male who can't provide 1/10
  
  
• Hispanics wont vote for him 1/12
  
  
• Obama is an Uncle Tom who was doing drugs when the Clintons were fighting for blacks 1/13
  
  
• "99 problems and a Bitch aint one of them" 1/14
  
  
• Black supporters just because Obama is black 1/15
  
  
• etc
  

Obama's first comments about this all? Jan 13th.

And this is what he said:

"She made an unfortunate remark about Martin Luther King and Lyndon Johnson,” he said. “I haven't remarked on it. And she offended some folks who thought she diminished the role about King and the civil rights movement. The notion that this is our doing is ludicrous.”

According to Clinton Mythology, that was Obama "playing the race card."

The Clintons broke the truce and have continued to push both race and gender issues into the media attention.

[Armstead]

28. Bogus?

Why did she bring up the MLK association?

The subtext of her remarks was that a black needed a white man to accomplish his civil rights goals.

[rucky]

7. That's a touchy subject

among some blacks and plenty more whites. It might be the reason his support among blacks isn't more enthusiastic.

[Essene]

8. Absolutely not. He needs to just not push race topics whatsoever.

America is barely capable of handling a black president... let alone one putting it in their faces.

I'm inter-racial and see all the pitfalls.

Keep in mind that prominent black leaders have already diss'd him, suggesting he isnt really black, that Bill Clinton was more black, etc. Obama just needs to keep on trucking with his message and vision for america.

If folks want to respect him as a BLACK candidate (or hate him for it), then let them.

That cannot be his campaign, and some nuanced dialog about race identity is kinda beyond the scope of a campaign.

[FrenchieCat]

9. I think that he is doing just fine. If Hillary can turn a man's color into a narative.....

it only means that as a country, we have a long, long way to go. We are either still hatin' on one another and need someone firmly at the bottom....or we are too gullible to the suggestions as to how we are to behave towards one another.

All the way round, I support Barack, and he is not yet finished. No matter how much how many want it over and done.

[cali]

10. It's as simple as this: Obama identifies as a black man

as do most bi-racial people. He wouldn't be true to himself if he discarded his identity for political advantage. And he hasn't run as a black man; he's run as a candidate who happens to be black- huge difference.

[journalist3072]

11. Your post is extremely disingenuous...and that's putting it lightly

The Clintons have NOT, let me repeat, HAVE NOT, made this a "racially polarized" campaign.

Your assertion to that affect has absolutely zero merit.

If anyone has played the race card, it is the Obama camp, any quite frankly, many of his supporters in Black America. And I say this as a Black woman...who happens to be very disappointed in the way Obama has run his campaign.

Let's look at the facts:

It was Michelle Obama, who, when asked why her husband didn't have more support in the Black community, said she was convinced that "Black America will wake up and get it."

It was Barack Obama who told Tavis Smiley that "There's no doubt that if we consolidate the Black vote, that would have a profound shift in the national polls."

As a Black woman, I've really been turned off by the Obama campaign and their supporters like Tom Joyner, who've basically told me I need to support the Black man.

I don't appreciate being asked to engage in group think.

[Essene]

17. Will you people stop lying. The Clintons most blatantly did race bait.

It's getting petty.

The Obama campaign put this issue behind. Don't blame VOTERS for being angry still about the TRUTH.

[journalist3072]

18. "You people?" Who's doing the race baiting now?

I've also noticed you've provided no facts to back up your B.S. claim.

And you didn't deal with the quotes I've provided you.

[Nedsdag]

26. THEN STOP LISTENING TO TOM JOYNER!!!!!!!!

You're a broken record! You don't make any sense.

If you think Hillary Clinton will do anything for the African American community, you have another thing coming.

She and her stupid husband will throw AAs under the bus like they always will. Remember Sistah Souljah? Rickey Ray Rector? Lani Guinier? "Welfare" reform? Marian Wright Edelman?

I can go on all day, but then again you have me on ignore because you're too chicken to take on people who disagree with you.

[bigwillq]

12. Yes

and so should the rest of the country and the media.

I don't really give a fuck what race or nationality he is. But he will not be the first black president (if that happens) he will be the first "mixed" or "biracial" president.

Just like Halle Berry when she won her Oscar (and it was well-deserved). But she wasn't the first black woman to win Best Actress, she was the first mixed actress to win.

I don't care what race someone is but let's get the facts right. I guess image is still everything in his country.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Race Is A Social Construct Anyway

She's black if she says she's black...

[Dogmudgeon]

13. "In light of The Clintons apparently successful drive to make this a racially polarized campaign..."

Why is it that the Obama crew constantly talk race?

The Clintons have made a grand total of about three dumb-ass remarks than pertain in any way to race. Give it a rest.

If the Clintons are as evil as you claim they are, there must be plenty of dirt to use that doesn't keep the racial talk alive.

--p!

[Armstead]

22. They and their surrogates have planted the seeds

They weren't "dumb ass" remarks. They are too smart for that, and not spontaneous.

[LiberalHeart]

16. He did emphasize it on MTV when an interviewer called him black. He corrected that right away.

[never_get_over_it]

19. As the aunt of three bi-racial nephews

from the "white" side of the family I would prefer that people refer to Obama as bi-racial. If I ever do refer to their race - which is almost NEVER - I refer to them as bi-racial. I use to have this beautiful White and Black cat - and when the two oldest ones were little and if the "issue" ever came up I'd tell them they were just like Bo both White and Black and how cool is that....

We all loved Bo (short for bovine) VERY much so they liked that....

[CatWoman]

20. so now he should play the Tiger Woods card?

:shrug:

[Armstead]

24. Not the Tiger Woods card.

I'd see it as moving beyond divisions as a reflection of what the country can aspire to as a multi-racial nation.

I wasn't suggesting he make a big deal out of it. But his gene pool reflects his message of unity.

[joeybee12]

23. Well, in light of Obama wanting to make this about race...

...it muddies the water...seriously, people will start to wonder well, who was the black parent, who was the white one. Besides, BO wants to be cast as a downtrodden, poor little victim.

[BeyondGeography]

27. "BO wants to be cast as a downtrodden, poor little victim."

Get help, Southie.

[cooolandrew]

29. I think the jokes he makes about his cousin cheney are a vague reference to this.He's being neutral