Race Matters

WHY IS OBAMA UNABLE TO CLOSE THE DEAL? I DO THINK RACE MATTERS. BUT, ITS ALSO THE SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR MANY YEARS. A SYSTEM THAT IS SET UP TO RESIST CHANGE. DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN. HOW IN THE HELL IS SHE STILL ALIVE? SHE'S THE FRICKEN HORROR MOVIE THAT NEVER ENDS! READ THIS BLOG ENTRY FROM ANDREW SULLIVAN. A LITTLE DOSE OF REALITY FOR ALL OBAMA SUPPORTERS INCLUDING MYSELF! -CUELLAR

Race Matters -
24 Apr 2008 02:38 pm

Andrew Sullivan
I think all of us who once dismissed the fashionable view around the world that a black man would have a real problem becoming an American president have had a learning experience these past few weeks. I don't believe that racism explains all of it at all. To my mind, the kind of tactics deployed against someone like Obama were deployed against Kerry and Gore and Clinton. Class and gender and age also weighed in the balance. And the fear of another Carter has motivated some. But the insane hysteria over Wright, the racist incidents in Pennsylvania that are only now being aired fully, the "Hussein" and "Muslim" memes, the sense of white entitlement that is so embedded in the Clintons that they don't even fully see it: you have to be blind not to see the impact of race. Imagine if John Edwards had achieved what Obama has achieved. Imagine if he had won more delegates, votes and states than Clinton. Would Clinton have ever offered him the veep slot? Of course, race has affected this campaign, if only because the white entitlement that infuses the Clintons is invisible to most.
I still believe a black president is possible in America. Within another generation, it is far more conceivable than it would have been a generation ago. But I also now understand better why it will be an almighty struggle. And why neither Republicans nor Democrats have completely clean hands in this.