Ole Miss overcomes racial past

Ole Miss overcomes racial past

The University of Mississippi is holding the first debate of the presidential campaign this Friday.  The millions of viewers will see one thing: Ole Miss has changed.

The university’s chancellor, Robert Khayat, a former Ole Miss football star, sees the debate as an extraordinary opportunity to remember in 1962, when white students rioted, leaving two dead, in protest against the enrollment of the university’s first black student, James Meredith. 

"For many people, 1962 is locked in their memory, as far as Ole Miss is concerned," Khayat said. "Now, 46 years later, we're hosting the presidential debate and one of the candidates is an African-American. That, I think, speaks volumes about where we were and where we are."

Since Khayat was a appointed chancellor 13 years ago black enrollment has increased to 14 percent, from 5.8 percent in 1995. (Mississippi is nearly 40 percent black)  

The Confederate flag is no longer everywhere at football games.  In 2006, Civil War memorials on campus were joined by a monument to Meredith and integration.

Obama says McCain campaign not racist

Obama: McCain is cynical

Obama accuses McCain of being racist

Obama struggling with Clinton supporters

Obama struggling with Clinton supporters

Barack Obama’s support from Hillary Clinton supporters to still where it was in June. A poll showed Tuesday that his lack of progress is weakening his support from the Democratic Party.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll shows that the adults who supported Hillary during the primaries, 58 percent now support Obama. That is the same percent who said in June that they would support Obama.

The poll shows that while Obama has gained support from Clinton supporters-69 percent are in his favor. This has gained 9 percent since June.

Clinton’s supporters' views of John McCain have improved during this period.


McCain wants to postpone debate

CBS bans sexist McCain Ad

Republicans and sexism

Obama and Hilary compete

Obama and Hilary compete

Hillary Clinton’s campaign strongly believes that the press had been kinder to Barack Obama than it has been to her.  

Many of her supporters are up in arms about this.  I would say it’s definitely true that Obama has gotten better press than Clintons.  

Still, I think Clinton supporters are going a bit overboard with this accusation.  On the other hand, if Obama lost eleven contests in a row, there would be no way he would still be a practical candidate.  

Similarly, if Obama had reached a situation where no one can precisely figure out a way for Clinton to catch his lead without altering DNC rules, I doubt the race would still be considered a competition.

McCain claims to be a leader

Race in the Media

African Americans portrayal in the media

Laura Bush concerned about sexism

Laura Bush concerned about sexism

Laura Bush seems to be worried that Democrats and the media are going to make sexist comments on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

After seeing what happened to Hillary Clinton during the primaries, this seems to be adequate.

As reported by Politico Monday:

First lady Laura Bush said today that the sexism intended for Sarah Palin was a real view and she suggested Democrats watch what they say about Palin.

“The other side will have to be particularly careful," Bush said in an interview on Fox News, "because that’s something we all looked at."

Sexism and Palin

Hillary supporters condemn 'sexism' at Palin

Sexism issues with the GOP

Obama speaks on Racial Division

Obama speaks on Racial Division

Barack Obama braved the nation’s racial divide head-on Tuesday, addressing both black objection and white bitterness in a huge effort to calm campaign chaos over race and his former pastor’s statements.

While he was sanding before a row of eight America flags near the building where the Declaration of Independence was adopted Obama pleaded for the nation to break “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.”

“The anger is real,” Obama said.  “It is powerful, and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”

The speech, at the National Constitution Center, was the most important expression of racial issues in Obama’s 13-month campaign to become the first black president.  This was provoked by the notice his former pastor’s racial statements have been getting in the past week or so. 

Polls show racial division

Obama speaks on racial division in Philadelphia 

Racial Division: Obama

Palin is trying to steal women from Obama

Palin is trying to steal women from Obama

The final part Sarah Palin’s sit-down interview with Charles Gibson aired Friday.

To some of us, it looks as Palin has resorted to the cliché politician approach of ‘stir the pot’ to pull the Republicans ahead.

Palin brought up issues with Hillary Clinton that the Democrats tried to cover at their Denver convention.

Palin said, “I think he’s [Barack Obama] regretting not picking her now, I do.  What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way – she handled those well.”

Is she saying Clinton supporters will come to the Republican side now?

Would a true Clinton supporter really vote for McCain/Palin?  Just because Palin is a woman?

Palin is the complete opposite of Clinton on policy.

They do not agree on abortion rights, stem cell research, environmental policies and gun control.

Logically speaking people who support Palin would never have supported Clinton, right?

Could you ever see Clinton insist that a librarian censor books from a library, just like Palin supposedly did as mayor?

If you are a Clinton supporter who is now supporting Palin, we would love to know the reasoning.

Obama talks about Lipstick comment

The world supports Obama

Was Palin's speech full of lies?

Republican nominees are like lipstick on a pig

Barack Obama directly attacked GOP’s John McCain and Sarah Palin with his “lipstick on a pig” comment and it may keep him out of the White House.

Though the line is being understood by some as a personal attack against Palin.  Palin described herself as a “pit bull with lipstick” when she was announced as the Republican vice-presidential nomination at the Republican national convention.

“We’ve been talking about change when we were up in the polls and when we were down in the polls,” Senator Obama told a rally in Virginia.  Surveys have stated that McCain and Palin have taken the lead in the election.

“The other side, suddenly, they’re saying ‘we’re for change too’.  Now think about it, these are the same folks that have been in charge for the last eight years.”

“You can put lipstick on a pig.  It’s still a pig.  You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change.  It’s still going to stink after eight years.  We’ve had enough,” Obama said to immediate praise.

Republican nominees are like lipstick on a pig

Obama's lipstick on a pig comment

Obama's message is getting louder

Obama: Lipstick on a Pig

Palin's Interview

http://perezhilton.com/2008-09-12-sarah-palin-speaks

Did you watch the first pay of Charles Gibson’s interview on ABC with Sarah Palin Thursday night?

If you didn’t see it, click here to see video clips, or click here for the transcript.

We felt as we were watching a woman version of George W. Bush, only Palin is more expressive and desirable.

Like many other politicians, instead of giving straight forward answers, Palin would just babble.

At one point during the interview, Charles Gibson said to the GOP VP candidate, “I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes?”

If the GOP wins the elections, lets hope John McCain stays healthy.

With Palin in power, it looks like there is a probability that ‘God’ could instruct us to war with Russia, Iran and Pakistani terrorists all at the same time.


Chance fancies Sarah
http://perezhilton.com/2008-09-11-chace-has-the-hots-for-sexy-sarah

What Pink thinks about Palin
http://perezhilton.com/2008-09-13-pink-on-palin

Palin is stealing women from Obama
http://perezhilton.com/2008-09-13-sarahs-trying-to-hijack-hillary-ladies-from-barack

Race and Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20kristof.html

This week Barack Obama gave one of the best political speeches since John Kennedy spoke about this Catholicism in Houston in 1960, and it acquired power from something unusual in modern politics: a recognition of complexity, nuance and authentic grievances on many sides. It was not just a sound bite, but a symphony.

But the commotion over Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons show that Obama erred in an earlier speech—the 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention that flung him to fame.

In that speech, Obama stated that “there is not a black America and a white America…There’s the United States of America.” That is a wonderful ambition, and we are making progress toward it. But this last week has showed that we are not nearly there yet.

The fuss over sermons by Mr. Wright shows how much we need the dialogue about race that Obama tried to address with his speech Tuesday.

Barack Obama: Race Man

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304

Obama Address Race Divide

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23687688/

Media and Race in the News

http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/001188.shtml

Obama is concentrating on the issues, not his race

Barack Obama stated that his campaign for the presidency “will send a wonderful message to young people of color and to immigrants around the country” if he is triumphant.

“If I’m talking about the issues that matter to people, if we do a good job in letting people know who I am and what I stand for…they’ll make their judgment not based on my race but based on how well they think I can lead this country,”  Obama explained to USA TODAY.

As he starts campaigning intensely for the 2008 Democtratic presidential nomination, Obama can’t be sure that he will be the preferred of the black voters, who are extrememly key to the result of Democratic candidates in states such as South Carolina, which has one of the earliest primaries.  African-American were about half of the state’s Democratic primary voters in 2004.

Obama’s upbringing does not compare to previous black presidential candidates or any previous civil rights leaders.  He is the son of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother.  He was raised in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia for a part of his childhood.  He was the first black president of the distinguished Harvard Law Review and took some time as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-02-09-obama-focus_x.htm

Obama Speaks on Race

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html

Obama Addresses Race Divide

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23687688/

American's Obsession with Barack Obama's Race

http://www.slate.com/id/2181460/

Why Palin is right for McCain

Why Palin is right for McCain

John McCain has to convince swing voters that he is prepared to take on the Republican institution.  He has to convince his party that he isn't wishy washy about social issues in our nation.  And he has to close the gender gap that is upon us.  When you ponder it, the real shocker about his selection of Sarah Palin being his running mate is that it is such a surprise.

Sarah Palin may be an un-known 44-year-old brand new governor and a mother of five from little Wasilla, Alaska, but in multiple ways she reinforces John McCain's views.  She has come to power by fighting corruption in her home state's Republican establishment, by uncovering mischief by the state GOP chairman and questioning the GOP governor.  She is a loyal Christian who's pro-life in practice as well as in theory; she just gave birth to her son that she knew far into her pregnancy that he would be born the Down Syndrome.

Palin will be the first woman ever on a Republican ticket, which the Republican campaign is surely hoping will bring in Hillary Clinton voters and help shrink Barack Obama's advantage with women.  She's a new face to challenge Obama's message of change, and she's about as far outside the Beltway as you can get.  Palin is a child of the middle class who has a friendly face and sky high hair.  Palin is also was the winner of the Miss Congeniality award in a beauty pageant.  Her son is about to go to Iraq.    She is a woman everyone can relate to.  She's an ice fisherman, a moose hunter, a small business owner and a NRA member for life.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837510,00.html

Gender Issues Sustain as Clinton Dwindles

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/politics/19women.html

Is Sarah Palin a Change?

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7864

Palin Brings Gender Back into the Race

http://www.connpost.com/news/ci_10374537

Barack Obama's Probelm with White Liberals

Barack Obama's Problem with White Liberals

Barack Obama has a racial problem, but it's not what the media thinks.  He does not have a problem with rednecks, older voters, or even women offended by attacks on Hilary Clinton.  Barack Obama's racial problem is white liberals.

A central belief of modern liberalism, after all, is the conviction that the white American is deeply racist.  For three decades, Americans white liberals have thought that America is so incapable of racial fairness that society needs an array of laws and preferences to ensure that black people are treated fairly.

All of those policies are based on the belief that America is racist, and that their fellow Americans are personally biased and prejudiced.

It also leads to that many race-holding liberals will be among the last to believe that America will ever elect an African-American as our president of the United States of America.

White liberals face this because they are having inconsistent beliefs towards change.  If they decide America is ready for a black president and back Obama they would also have to give up or at least change decades of convictions about American bias.  

The euphemism for this is "electability."  It is one of the main reasons why the race and gender issues are being brought up so aggressively among post-New Hampshire Democrats.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/barack_obamas_race_problem_whi.html

Racial Prejudice is the Only Basis McCain Might Have to Win the Election

http://www.slate.com/id/2198397/

Obama Speaks about Race Issues in the United States

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/03/18/obama-confronts-race-issue-in-us.html

Trapped Between Black and White

http://www.examiner.com/a-536474~_Trapped_between_two_worlds_.html