Aristotle
Senior Member
- Sep 9, 2012
- 1,599
- 126
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Naturally this debate would be posted in the racism discussion section but I believe this as stated in the general sense, ought to be addressed here where at least clear-headed thinkers can discuss this issue. Now post-election, there were many discussions as to why Obama won, and despite the vary ideas of the why's and how's, one of the most intriguing things that caught my attention was the demographics of voters who voted for Mitt Romney and Obama. It is no surprise that in 2008, the United States of America in particular, white America was shocked that a "black president" nominee was running for the highest office in the land. It was also no surprise that due to Barack Hussein Obama's name would be associated with the Muslim community.
Interestingly enough, in post-9/11, Americans are still ignorant of Islam and of the Muslim community and the varying demographics. Unfortunately, many Americas often times get their information of religion not from the universities, or town lectures, but from sources such as Google, You Tube, Faux News, or the like which often times are not challenged by more credible evidence. Which leads us into the discussion of the misinformed American concerning Barack Obama. Now, in many threads on the internet now the discussion on why Obama won has now become racially charged, with many white respondents asserting that Obama won because as one poster here states "97% of Blacks voted for Obama" therefore, blacks must be racist.
Let us test this theory......
First and foremost any citizen of the United States has a right to vote for any president whom he or she sees fit to run the country, whether they vote for arbitrary means or for other means. In addition we see that many voters from democrat to independent, to republican voted for different reasons. There were some that expressed dislike in Obama in the democratic party who purposefully voted for Romney (of course a small percentage). There were some who did not want to see Obama to be re-elected because they did not believe this "black man" should be re-elected again because he had further damaged the economy (despite Obama inheriting Bush tax cuts, deficits, two wars etc). Without even analyzing the demographic breakdown many people have accused many African-Americans who voted for Obama racist? No.
In fact a large portion of the African-Americans vote democrat since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to factcheck.org Blacks voted republican was due to the fact that Abraham Lincolhn too was republican and "it wasn't until 1924 blacks were even permitted to attend democratic convention" (See following party breakdown):
Many white respondents post-presidential election may assume blacks won it for Obama hence the assumption of charges of racism but in actuality what ethnic demographic group won it for Obama?
Hispanics.
According to csmonitor.com
"The Hispanic vote helped produce the dead heat in Florida, for instance. That’s a state Romney needed to win to have plausible paths to 270 electoral votes, and he could reasonably have expected to do well among the state’s conservative Cuban-heritage population. But Obama performed three percentage points better among Florida’s Hispanics than he did in 2008, winning 60 percent of their votes. If he emerges as the winner there, that will be a big reason."
They also highlight some important facts about Obama's victory:
"He (Obama) won 93 percent of African-Americans, 71 percent of Hispanics, and 73 percent of Asians. He took 55 percent of the overall female vote, down only one percentage point from his comparable 2008 showing. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, won about 59 percent of the white vote. That’s the best a GOP nominee has done among whites since 1988, and not too long ago such a performance might have guaranteed a winning margin of 270 electoral votes. After all, whites still make up 72 percent of US voters."
Lastly:
"As to other lessons from the preliminary exit poll data, it’s clear that Hispanics are quickly becoming a political force that national politicians must acknowledge. They increased their share of the electorate by about three percentage points; at that pace, they’ll tie or pass African-Americans as the largest minority voting bloc in 2016."
So before we start making charges of voting based on race we ought to understand the dynamics of party-to-party voting breakdown. I also submit a demographic voter breakdown in the following:
Lastly, based on the evidence it does not appear in the past election majority of the people voted for Obama based on popularity among the various ethnic demographics. Obama being more of a progressive and Romney a conservative. Certain initiatives presented by Romney such as the debate on pro-life and pro-choice did not sit well with single mothers. Overall Romney was not a good political choice for the republican party nor did he make attempts to reach out to the various ethnic communities. Obama winning was not because he was the better candidate or the most ethical, he won because he was the lesser of two evils and most certainly, the various ethnic communities that did come out and vote for Obama did so because he engaged them and their concerns which convinced the masses within that community that Obama cared. With Romney's 47% mantra it dissuade many people from considering Romney as a viable candidate. Although one may argue that in 2008, Obama's election and his popularity among African-Americans was racially charged, but as my links stated, Whites made up 74% of the electoral vote. So while many people here focus on the African-American community many also overlooked the influence Obama had on white voters.
See References: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...date_s_race_based_monochromatic_campaign.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Dec...ction-results-2012-Who-won-it-for-Obama-video
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/blacks-and-the-democratic-party/
Interestingly enough, in post-9/11, Americans are still ignorant of Islam and of the Muslim community and the varying demographics. Unfortunately, many Americas often times get their information of religion not from the universities, or town lectures, but from sources such as Google, You Tube, Faux News, or the like which often times are not challenged by more credible evidence. Which leads us into the discussion of the misinformed American concerning Barack Obama. Now, in many threads on the internet now the discussion on why Obama won has now become racially charged, with many white respondents asserting that Obama won because as one poster here states "97% of Blacks voted for Obama" therefore, blacks must be racist.
Let us test this theory......
First and foremost any citizen of the United States has a right to vote for any president whom he or she sees fit to run the country, whether they vote for arbitrary means or for other means. In addition we see that many voters from democrat to independent, to republican voted for different reasons. There were some that expressed dislike in Obama in the democratic party who purposefully voted for Romney (of course a small percentage). There were some who did not want to see Obama to be re-elected because they did not believe this "black man" should be re-elected again because he had further damaged the economy (despite Obama inheriting Bush tax cuts, deficits, two wars etc). Without even analyzing the demographic breakdown many people have accused many African-Americans who voted for Obama racist? No.
In fact a large portion of the African-Americans vote democrat since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to factcheck.org Blacks voted republican was due to the fact that Abraham Lincolhn too was republican and "it wasn't until 1924 blacks were even permitted to attend democratic convention" (See following party breakdown):
Many white respondents post-presidential election may assume blacks won it for Obama hence the assumption of charges of racism but in actuality what ethnic demographic group won it for Obama?
Hispanics.
According to csmonitor.com
"The Hispanic vote helped produce the dead heat in Florida, for instance. That’s a state Romney needed to win to have plausible paths to 270 electoral votes, and he could reasonably have expected to do well among the state’s conservative Cuban-heritage population. But Obama performed three percentage points better among Florida’s Hispanics than he did in 2008, winning 60 percent of their votes. If he emerges as the winner there, that will be a big reason."
They also highlight some important facts about Obama's victory:
"He (Obama) won 93 percent of African-Americans, 71 percent of Hispanics, and 73 percent of Asians. He took 55 percent of the overall female vote, down only one percentage point from his comparable 2008 showing. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, won about 59 percent of the white vote. That’s the best a GOP nominee has done among whites since 1988, and not too long ago such a performance might have guaranteed a winning margin of 270 electoral votes. After all, whites still make up 72 percent of US voters."
Lastly:
"As to other lessons from the preliminary exit poll data, it’s clear that Hispanics are quickly becoming a political force that national politicians must acknowledge. They increased their share of the electorate by about three percentage points; at that pace, they’ll tie or pass African-Americans as the largest minority voting bloc in 2016."
So before we start making charges of voting based on race we ought to understand the dynamics of party-to-party voting breakdown. I also submit a demographic voter breakdown in the following:
Lastly, based on the evidence it does not appear in the past election majority of the people voted for Obama based on popularity among the various ethnic demographics. Obama being more of a progressive and Romney a conservative. Certain initiatives presented by Romney such as the debate on pro-life and pro-choice did not sit well with single mothers. Overall Romney was not a good political choice for the republican party nor did he make attempts to reach out to the various ethnic communities. Obama winning was not because he was the better candidate or the most ethical, he won because he was the lesser of two evils and most certainly, the various ethnic communities that did come out and vote for Obama did so because he engaged them and their concerns which convinced the masses within that community that Obama cared. With Romney's 47% mantra it dissuade many people from considering Romney as a viable candidate. Although one may argue that in 2008, Obama's election and his popularity among African-Americans was racially charged, but as my links stated, Whites made up 74% of the electoral vote. So while many people here focus on the African-American community many also overlooked the influence Obama had on white voters.
See References: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...date_s_race_based_monochromatic_campaign.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Dec...ction-results-2012-Who-won-it-for-Obama-video
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/blacks-and-the-democratic-party/
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