Obama Won!

[Jon K]

the ironic outcome of all this is, 95% African Americans voted for Obama, why is that? many of whom had never even voted before, was it his message/promises of the world, stars, moon etc.....hmm......or was it his color? that is a question well worth pondering imho......true many voted because they believed his theories, but more then not they voted simply because of race....slice it, cut it, fold it any way you would like but the truth remains this nation is still divided and will be when it come to race....sad thing is it's a part of life that seems not to be able to be removed....

+1. This is why Obama is the new president. If you think otherwise, you're in denial.

[immts007]

+1. This is why Obama is the new president. If you think otherwise, you're in denial.

[Chilli Dipper]

+1. This is why Obama is the new president. If you think otherwise, you're in denial.

If you think that a really marginal increase in African-American turnout compared to previous elections alone caused an 8-million-vote swing and did McCain in, then you're the one in denial. If you're really looking for minority to blame everything on, at least have the good sense to go after Latinos, who really did make a difference in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico.

[glebert]

+1. This is why Obama is the new president. If you think otherwise, you're in denial.

Gore got 90%, Kerry got 88%. Those votes certainly weren't due to race, because those dudes are really, really white. So maybe 5% of the black electorate voted strictly on race, but how many whites voted against him because he's black? He won, fair and square, against some formidable opponents. His campaign was a work of genius. He was playing chess while the Republicans were playing checkers.

[Jon K]

i'm white. i voted obama.

he won because he's black.

[Shindig]

i'm white. i voted obama.

I'm not black and I voted Obama. And the more I hear this, the more I wonder how much of the victory that gets credited to his skin color is because of his ability to convince conservative Republicans - guys like me - that he would better represented their views and desires in Washington than John McCain would.

[Chilli Dipper]

i'm white. i voted obama.

And I applaud you for that, but the reason you're offering as the only cause of Obama's victory doesn't stand up to the facts. There was an 11.5-million-vote swing between Obama's margin of victory and Bush's margin of victory in 2004. The Democratic candidate saw a net gain of 5.7 million African-American voters against the Republican candidate from four years ago, but also a 4.7-million-vote net gain from white voters, and 3.1 million from Latinos. The Democratic candidate also saw a 6.8-million-vote net gain from both men and women voters. Any of those groups (and many more that I didn't choose to break down using the exit poll data) would have erased the 3,012,166 votes that Bush finished ahead of Kerry in '04. No one group helped Obama win this election on their own.

[glebert]

I think Jon was alluding to the fact that Obama was attractive to many different demographics, and part of that appeal was that he had the whole "post racial" thing (and I know, I hate that phrase too), or maybe that Obama wouldn't have gotten the national attention so early in his career if he was white. I think both of those things are true. I think it would fair to say that he did capitalize on those factors. Personally I want a President who takes every fair advantage he can get, so I'm good with it.

[mstuk]

Obviously being an Englishman I could not vote in your election but it seems to me that Obama won because he promises hope that things can change for the better for all people . He engaged much more empathetically with swing voters of all persuassions and races. His team also seemed to rely less on the rather the rather demeaning negative campaigning undertaken by the republicans which it seems to me always smacks of a party that fears the message of its opponents and so attacks the character.

lastly Macain doomed himself when he chose Palin to be his running mate I would have thought all but the most die hard reublicans thought twice about the idea of her becoming president in the event of the Mcains demise.

Sure some people voted for Obama because he is black but many people voted for Macian because he is white and some people will always vote this way but in my opinion more people voted because of the content of Obamas character than the colour of his skin and I applaud them for doing so .

[iacas]

And I applaud you for that, but the reason you're offering as the only cause of Obama's victory doesn't stand up to the facts. There was an 11.5-million-vote swing between Obama's margin of victory and Bush's margin of victory in 2004. The Democratic candidate saw a net gain of 5.7 million African-American voters against the Republican candidate from four years ago, but also a 4.7-million-vote net gain from white voters, and 3.1 million from Latinos. The Democratic candidate also saw a 6.8-million-vote net gain from both men and women voters. Any of those groups (and many more that I didn't choose to break down using the exit poll data) would have erased the 3,012,166 votes that Bush finished ahead of Kerry in '04. No one group helped Obama win this election on their own.

Though I don't care at this point to get into it, that's an all-too-simple re-telling of how we actually vote in this country. The popular vote doesn't determine the winner, so any math involving moving entire masses of popular votes around is relatively pointless.

For example, a state like California could gain 10M new Democratic voters without having any effect at all on the last few elections.

[pjsnyc]

I'm not black and I voted Obama. And the more I hear this, the more I wonder how much of the victory that gets credited to his skin color is because of his ability to convince conservative Republicans - guys like me - that he would better represented their views and desires in Washington than John McCain would.

John who?

Honestly guys - if Obama had lost, everyone would be screaming "BLOODY RACISM" anyway. Get over it.

[Smallville]

For example, a state like California could gain 10M new Democratic voters without having any effect at all on the last few elections.

They would gain electoral votes while the states they came from would lose elctoral votes. Just 3 more could have changed the 2000 election. Not that 10 million more population would have gotten them 3 more electoral votes, but just an example.

[Shindig]

They would gain electoral votes while the states they came from would lose elctoral votes. Just 3 more could have changed the 2000 election. Not that 10 million more population would have gotten them 3 more electoral votes, but just an example.

I think he meant that 10M people could vote Democrat in California, either from previously undecided/unvoting or previous voting Republican, not that 10M people would move here. An extra 10M people voting Democrat here in the presidential race wouldn't have affected the outcome, but it would have affected the total popular vote count.

[iacas]

I think he meant that 10M people could vote Democrat in California, either from previously undecided/unvoting or previous voting Republican, not that 10M people would move here. An extra 10M people voting Democrat here in the presidential race wouldn't have affected the outcome, but it would have affected the total popular vote count.

Yeah. I didn't mean people moving, just that you can't say someone would have won or lost an election based on the popular vote.

[Smallville]

Yeah, I realized that when I read it better! Besides, why would 10 million people move to California!? LMAO

[fitpro3]

I personally did not vote for either President-Elect Obama or Senator Mccain. I thought it was very sad that these were the best 2 candidates that we chose. But, since Barack Obama was elected I will support him since he is, after all, the soon to be President of the United States. He is not just the President for a certain group of people or for the Democrats of the United States. He is President for all Americans. I hope he can resolve some of the problems in Washington that he brought up in his campaign.

[zeg]

I think Jon was alluding to the fact that Obama was attractive to many different demographics, and part of that appeal was that he had the whole "post racial" thing (and I know, I hate that phrase too), or maybe that Obama wouldn't have gotten the national attention so early in his career if he was white. I think both of those things are true. I think it would fair to say that he did capitalize on those factors. Personally I want a President who takes every fair advantage he can get, so I'm good with it.

He might not have gotten the same attention were he white, but I think it's seriously delusional to claim that it was somehow easier for him to win the election because he was not white. Maybe he got attention, but the hurdles he had to overcome were much higher as a result.

Look, politics are complicated. He did not win because he's black. He won because of an array of factors, of which his race was merely one. There have been prominent black politicians involved in presidential races in the past; if it were all about race, why did none of them even make it as nominee of a major party? (by the way, glebert, I'm not arguing with you specifically, just quoting your post because it was relevant)