Is Race An Issue?

If you don't support The Messiah his proponents are quick to say it's because of race. After his triumphant foreign tour this past week, MSNBC's Chris Matthews wondered why The Messiah wasn't getting a bigger bump in the polls. He asked "is it a race thing?" Also, during the primaries if Democrats voted for Hillary Clinton over Obama it was always said to be because of race.

Why is it a race thing? Maybe people don't want to vote for Obama because of experience or because they don't agree with him on issues. This is what the media and Democrats are going to do - make you feel guilty if you don't vote for him. If you don't vote for The Messiah it's because you're racist.

But is race a factor? Apparently not when it comes to Democrats. In an article on The Crystal Ball (non-partisan political website - on my list of links) they had an analysis about race and Democrat candidates. It asked if Obama has a problem with white voters. The answer was "yes." But it's not just Obama, it's every "Presidential candidate of the past 40 years!" The only Democratic candidate to win a majority of the white vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Al Gore - Lost the white vote by 12 points in 2000.

John Kerry - Lost the white vote by 17 points in 2004.

Obama? He's trailing McCain by 9 points, which is better than any Democratic candidate in the past 40 years except Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

So to say that race is why people aren't voting for Obama is inaccurate. Maybe the media needs to get past their infatuation with The Messiah and look at the substance behind his words - because there are none. That is why he's not seeing a bounce in the polls - experience, not race.