Obama vs. McCain: Race vs. Fear

[Lost In Translation]

It's that time again. The mudslinging and trash-talking is in full swing. There have been unprofessional language, and there has been bad blood between Senator Obama and Senator McCain. However, as we enter the middle of the presidential campaign, we see a set tactic for both of these candidates. For both of the candidates, they demand change. However, they both hold a different weapon. Obama has the race card, which he has used to great effect, and Senator Clinton was unable to cope with it. For McCain, the fear card is emerging. Basically, McCain flashing hints of future terrorist attacks on the United States. I ask you, comrades: which tactic will be more effective?

[GPDP]

Who cares? The end result will basically be the same. We'll still get a reactionary in the White House (not like we could have otherwise, in any case).

[Mala Tha Testa]

Who cares? The end result will basically be the same. We'll still get a reactionary in the White House (not like we could have otherwise, in any case).

preeeety much

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

If McCain becomes president, I think the USA will sink deeper into its shit hole. Things will just get worse and worse, and the misguided will simply continue to chant, 'support our troops, God bless America, land of the free and home of the brave' except now they won't have the money or the energy to sit on their fat asses at baseball games because they'll all be drugging themselves with fast food, buying support the troops magnets for their cars, and american flags. With Obama as president, it won't be too different I don't think, but it will all be a little less depressing, and a little less ambitious in the killing and bombing department.

[Decolonize The Left]

If McCain becomes president, I think the USA will sink deeper into its shit hole. Things will just get worse and worse, and the misguided will simply continue to chant, 'support our troops, God bless America, land of the free and home of the brave' except now they won't have the money or the energy to sit on their fat asses at baseball games because they'll all be drugging themselves with fast food, buying support the troops magnets for their cars, and american flags. With Obama as president, it won't be too different I don't think, but it will all be a little less depressing, and a little less ambitious in the killing and bombing department.

Bingo. These two are by no means identical - but in terms of a radical movement, neither is helpful in any fashion.

- August

[BIG BROTHER]

Well besides the point that other comrades made about both candidates being bourgeoisie who won't bring real change for the working class, I think essentially Obama will win, the fear thing that McCain has going on won't work on all those who are fed up with Bush.

[F9]

they both use there assholes card,more effective tactic would be to go kill themselves,but this would lead us to nothing because another asshole would come and ask to get control!:closedeyes:

Fuserg9:star:

[lvatt]

Well I'm not American so I'm not exactly sure, but here is what I think

The danger with social democrats is that the working class risks being 'satisfied' with the little things given to them, while the capitalist status quo remains. Sure I think Obama might be a bit better than McCain, but both parties are still capitalist. Giving a little bit to trade unions is not socialism.

Of course, when it comes to abortion, religion, gay rights and such things, the democrats seem pretty good on the surface. But it's all just details. Greed continues to be a 'virtue,' the rich continue getting richer and the poor poorer, arrogantly called 'third word countries' continue to get exploited to the bone.

[RHIZOMES]

and a little less ambitious in the killing and bombing department.

Not really.

http://mikeely.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/obama-is-a-truly-democratic-expansionist/


Well I'm not American so I'm not exactly sure, but here is what I think

The danger with social democrats is that the working class risks being 'satisfied' with the little things given to them, while the capitalist status quo remains.

While with a right-wing Republican government, the workers become demoralized, and the Democrats look even better.

A plague on both their houses!

[Justin CF]

Obama has the race card, which he has used to great effect, and Senator Clinton was unable to cope with it.

Sorry, but I can't let this slide. You could criticize Obama on a lot of stuff and I wouldn't give a damn, but to say that he's playing the race card is ridiculous.

There was at least one time in the democratic "debates" where Clinton brought up how being a woman was a good reason to vote for her, and Obama simply ignored the chance to bring up race. I think this is probably because he realizes that using race as an issue will only cause regular folks (http://mediamatters.org/items/200807010011?f=h_clips) to fear him, but he still passed up what seemed to be an obvious opportunity.

I know Obama did a speech about race a while back, but I don't remember it coming off as him pleading for votes based upon race, or even him trying to paint is opponents as being racist.

He also made a statement pretty recently about how the republicans would try to use his race against him. Honestly, I think this is probably true. Even though McCain can't openly say that Obama is too black to be president, I've talked to people, both in person and on the internet, who believe this to be true.

Now, what exactly has Obama said that constitutes as "playing the race card"?

[Labor Shall Rule]

Obama has been running like hell, shitting his pants, from the 'race card'. In a white-dominated society, you can not be 'too Black', or you are simply (as Mike Ely put it) "disqualified" from even running.

[Justin CF]

Obama has been running like hell, shitting his pants, from the 'race card'. In this white-dominated society, you can not be 'too Black', or you are simply (as Mike Ely put it) "disqualified" from even running.There, fixed that for you! :lol:

[mykittyhasaboner]

Now, what exactly has Obama said that constitutes as "playing the race card"?
because the morons who are all gitty about Obama are excited about having a black president. I see what you were saying in your post and i think your correct. Obama has been very professional and hasn't really emphasized on race much at all. but who do you think every black american is going to vote for? i think he plays the race card by default.

i think hes going to win simply because hes a talented speaker, and a large portion of the american population is fed up with the republican party. but why should we care anyways.....

[KrazyRabidSheep]

I'm sure that I know more about Obama then many; he is a senator for my state, and I have been hearing his name since 1997 (when he became an Illinois state legislator).

Therefore I feel I must point out that Barrack Obama is not black.
He is:
1. African American (and I am not using the politically correct term; his father was Kenyan.) This differs considerably from the black American community just as the white American community differs from the U.K., German, etc communities. Not long ago a group in Chicago was complaining that Obama had "lost his black roots" (meaning black-American), which of course he never had.
2. He is biracial. His mother (who was white) raised him as a single mother. Obama was brought up in a white family.

Back to the question at hand:

I ask you, comrades: which tactic will be more effective?
I don't see Obama playing the race card (or at least playing it to it's limit), but I see Obama's racial diversity working to his advantage.

He is popular in Illinois across racial lines, and he has connections to Asians and Polynesians in Hawaii. Also when he was an Illinois state senator, he represented a district with a large Latino population.

[Justin CF]

because the morons who are all gitty about Obama are excited about having a black president. I see what you were saying in your post and i think your correct. Obama has been very professional and hasn't really emphasized on race much at all. but who do you think every black american is going to vote for? i think he plays the race card by default.

Indeed, Obama got a lot of support from blacks in the primaries, but the only thing that made this unusual was the fact that he was getting around 80-90 percent of democratic votes when running against another democrat. In '04, Kerry got 88% of the black vote, and Gore got 90% of it in 2000. The only way that I could see the black vote tipping the scales for Obama is if blacks showed up to vote in higher numbers overall, and all data suggests that they will. '04 had the highest turnout of black voters since 1968, and polls show that a large number of blacks plan on voting the first time '08 (though it's fair to point out that a lot of people who plan on becoming first time voters never actually make it to the polls).

Race could also have a negative impact on Obama, in that people are fucking racists. In fact, about 30% of Americans admit to having a "race bias". I would guess that most of these people are republicans anyway, but it could still have an impact, both in terms of voter turnout and in terms of voter preference.

Anyway, as you pointed out, Obama has not been actively using race as an issue, which is what globalcommie94 was trying to say.

http://iamsaam.org/userimages/BlackVote.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/22/ST2008062200049.html

[Dicktator]

As others in this thread have said, McCain or Obama as President won't make much difference for the working class because both are representatives of the banks and corporations. Revolutionists are concerned with the twin heads of American capitalism and their electoral battle because the election itself mobilizes people and opens their minds to debate a little bit more than usual, not because we back one against another---at least not in this particular race. We can analyse the candidates and point out their flaws without suggesting that either one of them is better than the other. A election climate is forming in which we can put forward our ideas against what the capitalists are offering. Election time makes fertile ground to plant seeds---just don't expect much from it in the short term. You might recruit a few new members. though, and sell a few subscriptions.

Lots of American workers will vote for Obama as a way of voting against Bush and his extension McCain. Others will vote for Obama because they imagine that his campaign slogans are more than simply vague rhetoric designed to give them false hope and little else. Then there a layer who I see sipping lattes at Starbucks while logged in on their Mac laptops to demcraticunderground.org, giggling at Republican email forwards, and posting declarations about how "strong" Obama sounded in his speech the other day, etc. These persons are are the Democratic Party activist-type fools who imagine that they are charting world history via a WiFi connection at a coffee shop.

I kind of think now, today, that Obama will get the most votes. His circus/media act is solid and McCain's is not. McCain looks like a fucking clown in comparison, in fact. I can't see that changing through election day.

Futhermore, i think that most "smart" conservatives view an Obama win as an excellent springboard to put a Republican into office four years from now and keep him there for two bloody terms. The conservatives will dog Obama every inch of the way should he attempt to make any reforms, they will blame the crashing economy and other problems on him and his administration, and use every day to shape opinion in favor of voting again for a Republican President. Obama will be helpless to counter this because playing the race card won't fix the economy, it only works in during elections BEFORE you have a record of massive policy defeats to account for.

[ckaihatsu]

Well besides the point that other comrades made about both candidates being bourgeoisie who won't bring real change for the working class, I think essentially Obama will win, the fear thing that McCain has going on won't work on all those who are fed up with Bush.




Obama’s patriotism tour: the last refuge of a Democratic scoundrel [WSWS]

[...]

In the 24 hours leading up to the speech, the presidential race was dominated by a media-generated furor over a remark made by Obama supporter Gen. Wesley Clark, in an interview on a Sunday television talk show.

Clark, appearing on CBS television’s “Face the Nation” responded to the moderator’s remark that Obama, unlike his Republican rival John McCain, had no military experience, had not “ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.” Clark made the rather obvious point that getting shot down in a fighter plane was not “a qualification for president.”

The howls of outrage from the McCain camp were answered by Obama’s immediate repudiation of Clark.

[...]



Behind this bowing before the Republican attacks on Clark’s innocuous statement was the Democratic candidate’s determination to prove himself prepared to wage war and unconditionally embrace American militarism. This theme was incorporated into Obama’s speech, which referred to the Republican candidate by name, praising his military service and implicitly condemning once again Clark’s remark.

Obama’s speech, ostensibly a reflection upon patriotism and “American values” in the run-up to July 4th, was a thoroughly reactionary address, in which words were carefully chosen to identify with themes generally associated with the Republican right and, at key points, to deliver a kick in the teeth to sections of left-liberal Democrats who have deluded themselves and sought to generate illusions in others about the real political character of his campaign.

[...]

http://wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/obam-j02.shtml






McCain adviser suggests that Republican campaign would benefit from
another 9/11 attack [WSWS]

A senior adviser to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee,
John McCain, in the course of an interview with Fortune magazine made
public Monday, declared that a new terrorist attack like September 11,
2001 would be good for his candidate's electoral prospects. Such an
event "certainly would be a big advantage to him," declared Charles R.
Black Jr., in a comment that even the monthly business magazine felt
compelled to describe as "startling."

[...]

www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/blac-j25.shtml



Chris




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