Is the 2008 Election Demonstrating We're 'Past Race'?

[William Joyce]

I hear that all the time.

But the numbers are telling us the exact opposite. South Carolina is a good example. Voters there voted pretty much along racial lines... blacks went for Obama, whites went for Hillary.

Young people prefer Obama, who's younger.

Women prefer Hillary, who's a woman.

I wouldn't be surprised if white males favored McCain, Romney, Huckabee and Paul.

As for issues, the race/sex issue seems to be engulfing the Democratic primary, with blacks hitting Hillary for her LBJ comment and reference to Obama's drug use (through a black supporter), the controversy over Oprah abandoning women to support a black man, Obama's difficulty convincing Hispanics to vote for him, etc.

It seems the reality is that race and sex are terrifically relevant and important, not "a technicality" that we're all past.

Well?

 

[William Joyce]

Charleston Chad, no doubt, has a response to this.

 

[Paulie]

I believe just about every single person, especially concerning blacks and whites, have some kind of racism embedded deep within them, even if it's subconscious.

And to jillian or Kath, yes, that even includes Ron Paul.

 

[mattskramer]

I think that every decade America is becoming blinder to differences based on race and sex. I believe that we are becoming less racist and less sexist. Women are a little bit more willing to vote for a man and a man is more willing to vote for a woman. Blacks are more willing to vote for a white and whites are more willing to vote for a black. America is not yet perfectly blind to race and gender but progress is being made. I might be wrong. I don’t have the statistics. It would be interesting to find some statistical research and historic comparison.

For example, of the people who voted for Geraldine Ferraro for vice president 1984, what percentage of them were women and what percentage were men. Of the people who are supporting Hillary Clinton for president, what percentage are women and what percentage are men?