Posted by Of course I woke up this morning with a big fat headache, and a well of tears in my eyes, but I shall move on. I do not dislike Obama on a personal level, nor do I dislike his supporters, I am simply disappointed that Americans are so misinformed about American history and politics that they would elect the most liberal Senator in Congress, just because he is a Democrat and a black man.
Surely Obama offers “change” and “hope” to the many African Americans who have felt isolated and abandoned by a society and a history that judges men by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character. I submit, however, that what Obama has successfully done is turn the late and great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s rhetoric on its head. Whether it was Obama’s intention or not, many Americans voted for Obama based upon the color of his skin, not the content of his character. This conclusion is based upon my finding that Obama’s character is surely lacking, in particular, in his new job as Commander in Chief of our Republic.
I am happy nonetheless for my many African American friends who see this as an opportunity to advance a color bind society, and I hope they are right. But at the same time I cannot help but be pessimistic. As I mentioned above, I think most people voted for Obama either because he is a Democrat or because he is black, and not because he is the best person suited to be our President. Poor John McCain didn’t have a chance, even though he is a former Naval Captain and POW, with a long history in the Senate of reaching across the aisles to advance change for the better.
Republicans in general have been lambasted over the years by three very powerful entities, the media, academia, and Hollywood. Those unwilling to admit this very real and obvious fact are kidding themselves. I can remember being in grammar school when Carter was running against Ford and hearing from school teachers how horrible Republicans are, and I distinctly remember feeling very isolated and abandoned myself because my parents, who I adore, are Republican. These were school teachers I admired, how could they insult my parents in that way?
This is life. I am not going to beleaguer the point, but at the same time, I refuse to ignore the very real bias that exists. And in some odd way, I kind of know what it feels like to be discriminated against if not because of the color of my skin, or the content of my character, but because of my conservative viewpoints.
I know in my heart that conservative values are still very important to the America I love, and although conservatives have a lot of work to do to repair our image, I will never apologize for my views, nor will I deceive my readers. My commentary is based upon my experiences, my love of God, life and freedom. No one can take that away from me.
At the end of the day, I only have good wishes for Mr. Obama. I can only hope he does not forget or dismiss people like me, who strongly disagree with his political views, in his “change” agenda. Conservatism is still alive and well in America. I pray that an Obama administration encourages a society that is not just color blind, but also one that does not demonize me for being a Conservative.
Excellent article and well said.
We have lost a battle, but the war goes on.
Pat
By Patricia A Carfagno on Nov 5, 2008
Thanks for a great job, Raquel! We love America and what it stands for–we need to work together with love and respect for each other’s views but never abandon or compromise our basic and fundamental principles.
By Florence on Nov 5, 2008
God, life and freedom – why do people take these things for granted?
Great blog Raquel!
By Lorena Villegas on Nov 5, 2008
Rachel- if you didn’t note from yesterday that the idea of conservatism means subsidies for farmers, ethanol producers, oil companies, defense contractors, waging wars and expaning our military expense, not to mention a balloning deficit and a 40%, read that again, thatstwo numbers, 4-0% increase in federal expenses during 8 years of bush years….. If that’s conservatism, it was soundly destroyed today and I hope it stays dead for good. For as long as we behave like democrats, we have NO right or face to call ourselves conservatives.
By chris on Nov 5, 2008
You make some sound points, Chris. I must say, however, that President Bush has protected us from attack, which is the President’s job and #1 priority to do so.
I refuse to blame the President completely for out of control spending because I think Congress is to blame, mostly Democrats and RINOs.
The President has defended Life at its most vulnerable stage, the unborn, and I respect him very much for that. The President has also appointed two excellent U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
I am not in the business of demonizing oil companies, ethanol producers or defense contractors (I will let the liberal media do that), and I would have to post a separate blog to explain why, but for now, I can just say that if you think the government plays a heavy hand in your life and spends money like drunk sailors, wait until a liberal Congress and President are in charge.
By Raquel on Nov 5, 2008
Raquel, you always have a way of lifting my spirits with your brutally honest words of principle. We have our work cut out for us and you hit the nail on the head when you said that the American people are so misinformed about American history and politics. Thus our work falls squarely in the corrupted realm of education, the whole misguided system from K-college, which focuses on social justice rather than discipline, American history and learning the 3 R’s.
By Phil O on Nov 6, 2008
Obama’s win was not a defeat for conservatism for the Republicans have drifted far from their Jacksonian laissez-faire roots. Freedom, limited government and individual opportunity are still attractive to a large percentage of Americans. The Republicans have deserted this philosophy in favor of corruption, banking subsidies and kowtowing to the Democratic media. There is not a single Republican news source. Fox claims to be balanced but it is balanced in the sense that it balances the big government wing of the Republican Party with the big government wing of the Democratic Party. The 30% of America that favors small government has no representation on television or in the major newspapers. A small government Republican Party would be ascendant, but this would not be to the taste of Rupert Murdoch and his acolytes on Fox, or to the big government Republicans who have been ascendant in the past eight years.
By Mitchell Langbert on Nov 6, 2008
I find your assessment of Murdoch And The Acolytes facile. Conservatism is a tendency that defines itself by opposition. I think the Foxolytes are mostly a shallow bunch huddled together, easily led in different directions, so I think their “conservatism” could easily be so redefined, or redefined in any number of other ways, as long as they found something or more likely someone that looked as if he, she, or it was a going concern that could hold them together and still allow them to be an opposition to “liberals”.
For instance, it’s not as if they’ll come out supporting the same foreign policy and national security initiatives as carried out by an Obama as by a Bush. But they WOULD have if Obama had identified himself as one of them pro forma a decade or even less ago. So they’ll be in opposition to Obama’s wars.
By Robert on Nov 6, 2008
Not true. If Obama strikes the nuclear reactor sites in Iran right after his inauguration at the end of January, I will support him for his bold move in facing down the threats of the mullah regime and showing them who’s boss. If Obama lowers taxes across the board, and punishes the Wall St con artists who make $30 million for bad decisions, instead of the small businsessmen making $250K I will applaud his genius in a time of economic crisis. Conservatives will applaud him and support him as well if he does the right thing, which I hope but frankly doubt he’ll do. However if Bush were to do these things, he would be excoriated and crucified by liberals and the pissant media. That the difference between conservatives who stand on principle and liberals who stand on political expediency and hypocricy.
By Phil O on Nov 7, 2008
What’s so sad is that the public at large does not realize that the financial meltdown was caused primarily by the Democratic party through the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) and the poor management of Fannie and Freddy by Barney Frank. Another villian is Chris Dodd who received a sweetheart mortgage from Country-Wide. But did McCain mention names and go after these jerks? He should have opposed the bailout – he might have won had he done that. And throwing Governor Palin under the bus now is despicable: note to McCain staff – some people voted for the Senator only because of Sarah. In the future we cannot allow Independents and Democrats to vote in any of our primaries. That is how Senator McCain received the nomination.
By Alice L. on Nov 7, 2008
the anti-gay marriage amendment in liberal California won – with much support from black voters! Yet there are people in the GOP who want to toss social conservatives under the bus. Do that, guys, and you will lose EVEN MORE! Watch: Obama will appoint judges who will shove through gay marriage in all 50 states. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
By Alice L. on Nov 7, 2008
Hi Raquel
Well I said i’d join your blog.Very interesting articles and commentary.Anyway in terms of comments we have already discussed on facebook the issues I had with your commentary. I also have some more issues.
First when you say people voted for Obama because he is a democrat that means several things to me. Are you saying people just wanted to vote for a different party than the incumbent or people liked the democratic platform for this election cycle and voted for them? Polls show that most people thought the democrats had the more superior tax policy and healthcare policy. If that is the case why is that wrong or are you saying that is wrong?
Second the notion that Obama won or people voted for him predominatly because he is black is one that needs a lot of evidence to convince me. I mean if people wanted to vote for a black man why didn’t Jesse Jackson,Al Sharpton,Alan Keyes,Cynthia McKinney win the nominations of their parties or the election? These are prominent politicians in the african american community and if people did want to make a statement why not vote for them especially at the height of civil rights unrest? Also everyone agrees that Obama became a viable candidate after he won the state of Iowa which is predominantly white. In your opinion what could Obama have done to win to convince you that race was not a significant factor? He won a majority of the popular vote, won about 6 traditionally republican states, so I don’t really understand what more he could have done.
In my opinion the main reason he won is that he managed to convince majority of the population (sometimes unfairly I may add) that McCain would be a third bush term. Now with 75% thinking that the country is on the wrong track and the president having very low ratings you can see why that worked.
I agree with you that we should not discard our conservative values. I supported Bush in 2000 but one thing I noticed is that the republican party is now being run by neo-conservatives with their sometimes very scary ideology. So until the party goes back to the core principles of true conservatism I will stay on the outside.
Lastly with regards to one of the comments above on Sarah Palin, it makes me so mad that some sections of the McCain camp are trying to blame her for the loss. The loss should rest solely on the advisers and strategists of the campaign. They ran such a woeful campaign without a consistent message. Sarah Palin is who she is and if the rumors are true that they saw gaps in her knowledge then shame on the campaign for trying to sell her to the american public that she was ready for the second highest office in the country and a heartbeat away from the presidency.
By Reggie on Nov 8, 2008
Hi Reggie. I am so glad you came on board. I think that the Democrat party act with cohesiveness. You will always find moderate Democrats defending liberal ones even if they don’t quite agree with them. Whereas Republicans showed a complete lack of cohesiveness.
I think people who have a long history of supporting Democrats go to the polls and vote Democrat regardless of who is on the ticket. I have seen this time and time again in NYC. Republicans will put up a candidate that supports their social and economic views, yet that Republican candidate has no chance anyway, simply because there is an “R” next to his/her name.
I realize your point that polls showed that Americans favored Obama’s economic and health care positions over McCain, but I think that is because the Republicans have failed to articulate those positions (because I think Republicans have it right on these two issues), rather than on the parties’ respective differences. Again, it is the Republicans who failed to articulate this message to put us over the top, and indeed this election was no landslide, meaning many of us clearly understand the difference.
There are many reasons why Obama appealed to voters in general over some of the African Americans you mentioned. It is because he clearly articulated his party’s beliefs, and tried to appear to move to the center, which is a place I don’t think he really wants to be. But, for purposes of winning election, he understood that is where he would have to portray himself. Some of the black politicians you mentioned do not portray themselves as being in the middle, and have not been successful due in large part to their own personal weaknesses.
I think that being Black and an eloquent speaker helped Obama very much, I think the media really created a figure, a “Messiah” a person that doesn’t really exist, but nonetheless appealed to the electorate.
And the whole “change” mantra, yes, to beat the unpopular President, worked in his favor as well. Of course there are many factors why Obama won. But, I think being a Black man helped him, because people wanted a big change, not a John Kerry type, although Kerry and Obama probably agree 100% on the issues, and you can’t get bigger change than a White Republican vs. a Black Democrat.
I give Obama and Democrats credit for their ground game. They worked it well and they came out on top for it.
By Raquel on Nov 8, 2008
IMO the media played the biggest part in Obama’s victory. With or without the economic crisis, the pissant media would have promoted the doom and gloom scenario, convincing the newbie voters that the sky is falling when it wasn’t. Obama was well packaged and marketed by David Axelrod and Co. to expediently sell a chimera to the tastes and naivete of the primary and then the electorate audiences. But questions still remain about Obama’s birth certificate, and his medical and college records which are now sealed as he transitions to the White House. The greatest loss in all this is the Consitution and FOIA and the liberty of the American people now that the president-elect is above the law. And don’t expect a peep from the pissant media. Every negative comment about Obama henceforth will be like pissing in the wind now that the media will celebrate the sweetness of every fart from “The One.”
By Phil O on Nov 8, 2008
“…the media played the biggest part in Obama’s victory. With or without the economic crisis, the pissant media would have promoted the doom and gloom scenario, convincing the newbie voters that the sky is falling when it wasn’t.”
I have to agree with you 100% Phil, even while others will choose to ignore this very apparent reality. The pissant media, who would be quick to support the “fairness doctrine” to restrict talk radio, has no clue what it means to be fair or honest. To them, Republicans are dirt, and Obama is the golden child. I have given it up for good, relying on the internet and talk radio for my news, thank you very much.
By Raquel on Nov 8, 2008
With regards to your point about Democrats voting democrats that is probably true. But the republicans do the same thing as they will vote for their candidate majority of the time. A lot of it is because historically republicans do not see the democratic party as being in line with their social issues (main one being abortion). So even if the policies of the democratic party may be better they will vote against the candidate because of some social issues. It goes both ways and shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone.
With regards to Obama moving to the center most political analysts believe that you needed to do that to win the election. Remember the population is split roughly 43% democrats, 37% republican, 20% iudependents. Now to win the election the key is to win the independents and the independents are mainly at the center and are moderates. In fact that is why McCain was the only plausible candidate from the republican party that could win the election because he is truly at the center. Remember before Palin came on the ticket, the base was not enthusiastic of McCain and I remember Pastor Jim Dobson saying he would never vote for Mccain because he was a moderate. But when Palin came on the ticket the republicans where fully on board. So I think both candidates are guilty of moving to the center to win.
With regards to the black politicians I have mentioned what you should realize is that most did not even win the nomination of their party and it was not because they did not move to the center. To win the base of either party you need to move either to the left or right. Then to win in a general election you need to move to the center.The only plausible way to win from either right or left is if a large amount of the population is right or left.
I agree that being a black candidate and a good orator helped but remember most considered the campaign a 21 month interview for the job and the population thought that Obama displayed the better judgement during the campaign eg. selection of a VP and during the economic crisis. Also I think people misunderestimate the good of being able to communicate clearly. Especially in these scary times most times you only have one shot to get your ideas across and if missed can be disasterous.
Yes most of the media was in the tank for Obama and yes they tried to paint him sometimes as a “messiah” but that is no fault of his own. Remember only 8 years ago McCain was the darling of the media and they were in the tank for him against Bush in the 2000 primary. I don’t think the answer is to avoid the news, actually the better strategy is to try to get a well rounded view of the news eg I watch FOX,CNN,BBC and I saw how both can be biased.I do this because if I don’t understand the other party how can I talk intelligently to them? Of couse I read some periodicallys and papers as well. Every form of media has bias in it.
By Reggie on Nov 8, 2008
After all that is said & Done, Here is My Feeling on the Whole Election. First, McCain Lost Because of McCain, NOT because of Palin. Palin & Joe the Plummer Helped. As Ann Coulter told Bob Grant on his Radio Show the Day after McCain won the Primary that Gave him the Nomination, Everytime We Nominate a Liberal Republican, We LOSE.
However, on the Bright Side, I think this Election is a Blessing in Disguise. We can Argue WHEN it Happened But @ Some Point in Time, TOO MANY REPUBLICANS FORGOT HOW TO BE CONSERVATIVE. My Co-Worker David @ work said this & I AGREE, “The WORST Thing that could happen for the Republicans is fro McCain to Win. The BEST Thing for the Republican Party would to be to SUFFER a HUGE Loss so that this can Allow you to Rebuild from the Grassroots & Do what whatever House Cleaning you need to do so that You can become a Majority again.”
I Hope this Election Serves as a Wake Up Call & a Lesson to the Republican Party @ ALL LEVELS, National, State & Local to Remember that we are a CONSERVATIVE Party & in order to Win in the Future we Need to BUILD the Party, Educate the Public on what it REALLY MEANS to be Conservative & to Convince people to Support us.
One Last Thing, Going Back to My Days in JROTC & ROTC, There are times you have to Lose the Battle in order to Win the War. In Order to Win the War, We Will Need to Lose a Battle here & there.
That is just My Feeling. Hope you Guys Agree
By William M. Horowitz on Nov 9, 2008
Very good points, William, and welcome to my blog. I just hope that the party players in the Party, at all levels, are wise enough to heed this advice. Clean house and Rebuild!
By Raquel on Nov 9, 2008
I agree with Williams’s point and feel exactly the same way. The party needs to go back to it’s true core values and what it means to be a “true conservative” because right now most people outside the party see it as being more “neo conservative”. Hopefully 4 years will be enough and we can see a true conservative running.
By Reggie on Nov 9, 2008
Conservatism is still alive in this country. During the presidential campaign Obama talked about one main Conservative issue cuting taxs for the middle class. The election results find that 32% still identify themselves as Repubicans/Conservatives and only 22% identify themselves as Liberals. Knowing that the Republican Party needs to use the Conservative philosophy to come out with new Conservative ideas for the issues that are challenging us today, like Health Care, Energy Independence, Retirement, and also cuting spending and taxes for not just small and big business, but also the working class and middle class and get back to limited government. After Conservatives have their new Conservative ideas on the issues of today we must do party building by going out and registering voters to be Republicans,especially in states like New Hampshire, New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana. If that is done then the Republican Party and the Conservative movement will look stronger in 2010 for the midterm elections and the next presidential election year 2012.
Lev Brudnoy
By Lev Brudnoy on Nov 9, 2008
Hi Raquel! Excellent article.
What I find so disheartening is that there are still so many (black) people in this country who are eager to vote along racial lines. If the tables had been turned and a similar percentage of pigmentationally-challenged Americans had based their votes on skin color, we would rightly be condemned as racist. Why can’t people of all races get past the issue of skin color and look at what really counts: policy??
I would eagerly cast my vote for a Clarence Thomas, Star Parker or Thomas Sowell in a minute, and in fact I ran as a delegate for Alan Keyes some years back (before learning of his insane stand on reparations). Why is it OK for some to be race-conscious in the voting booth, but not others? Very disturbing.
Anyway, just needed to vent about that. I hope you’re doing well (post-election trauma aside!), and I hope to talk to you soon.
Take care,
Paula
By Paula on Nov 11, 2008
Paula I understand your concerns about people voting based on race and true some african americans voted based on race but that was not a significant factor to his win. What you need to understand is that african americans for the most part vote democratic. For example Obama won 96% of the black vote. Now that may seem like a lot but in 2004 Joh Kerry won 88% of the black vote. So for arguments sake lets say that the same number of people who voted for Kerry in 2004 also voted for Obama.Then by that reasoning 8% at most voted for him based on race. Also remember african americans only make up 14% of the population.
I feel your concern but what I don’t hear any concern from you with regards to the people who voted against Obama because of this RACE. Are you saying they do not exist?Is the reason being that John McCain did not win the election make it less concerning? Like I ask people who bring this up what won an Obama win be like to satisfy you that race wasn’t a significant issue apart from him being white or Jesus Christ himself. Race to me wasn’t a big issue on the election.
Lastly even though I am guilty of this sometimes Obama is bi-racial not a black candidate. He was brought up by a white mother and white grandparents. Can’t his win be a source of pride for both blacks and whites?
By Reggie on Nov 11, 2008
As I said, racism is racism, and it’s wrong any way it’s packaged. I’m sure there are those who voted against Obama only because of his race, and I’m grateful not to know any of those fools. However, there is someone I know and love dearly (I’ve known her since I was 2)who was ELATED over Obama’s victory because he happens to have African blood (whatever the percentage). We go back many, many years, and I’ve never heard her make a political statement until now. But what made me sad is that she didn’t mention the issues. This was relayed to me third hand, through mom, but my understanding is that she feels “empowered” because O is (part) black. I’m glad she feels empowered, but I believe it’s for the wrong reasons. I mention this because I assume she’s far from being alone in this view. Maybe it’s because this is a first (unless you count our real First Black President, elected in 1992, LOL), so people see barriers coming down and opportunities expanding. That I’m all for.
My earlier reference was to percentages, not raw numbers. If 96% of whites had voted for the white guy, eyebrows would have shot up in an instant. Of course, not all of them would have been racist. Most probably would not have been (and the person I referred to above is certainly far from racist). But it would have given a certain appearance.
Race certainly was not an issue for me either. I look forward to the day when it is not an issue for anybody. To address your question about whether O can be a source of pride for blacks and whites: Yes he can. But only the far-left, abortion-loving Marxist ones. This is one case where I would like nothing better than to be proven wrong.
By Paula on Nov 11, 2008
I agree with your sentiments about your black friend not talking about the issues. Numerous times I have had to call out people (both black and white) on voting because of his race. But I don’t think the significance of his win especially to african americans should be knocked down. I think as you indicated it is because this is a first. It might be hard for you to see so I will talk from my point of view on the elation.
Growing up as an african american in the US you are told you can be whatever you want in the US. There is no better statement of that than having an example or role model. So for example I can be a doctor because I see black doctors or engineer etc But the question of whether I can be POTUS well our parents always said “well,hmmm, errrr” So to have that happen in our lifetime is a testament to how far the US has come. Another thing is that african americans who are striving to reach the pinacle of their careers, don’t want every step of their success being questioned due to race especially if they are talented and working hard. So african americans hate to hear that race is a significant factor because it means they cannot be very successful without it being questioned.The success doesn’t feel real especially all the hard work being put. This is what goes on in the minds of blacks who are successful as every success is covered with a sense of doubt i.e. Do my peers see me as an equal or do they question my success because I am black.
So don’t be too disappointed with your friend and her elation because although she may have the “head knowledge” that the US is an equal opportunity provider having a live example is more of a statement to her. You can question Obamas policies, experience even his associations but hopefully from the point of view of where race relations has come from you can be happy for her. Think about how women felt empowered when the first woman was able to vote. I’m sure men thought “what’s the big deal, it’s only women voting”. Like you I for one wait for the day where a black person runs for POTUS and we don’t even raise an eyebrown or feel elated. But for now let her enjoy it (it probably wouldn’t last long anyway when the euphoria dies down)
By Reggie on Nov 11, 2008