Attention all bigots, know-nothings and throw backs:

Last night, a plurality of white people from middle America sent you a message. They brought about your worst nightmare. They showed us all what America can be. They rejected your message of racism, your long-held hatreds and your primitive beliefs. They stood up and publicly proclaimed that a black man could become president of the United States.

I don’t know whether or not Obama will go all the way and actually become president. But millions of people in our country think he can. And that marks an earth-shattering change. It challenges your core assumptions. It scorns your despicable beliefs regarding people who are not like you. It tells you that your days of looking down on what you would call “inferior human beings” are coming to an end.

I’m not foolish enough to believe that you who thrive on hatred will simply disappear tomorrow or the day after. But I do believe that last night marked a giant stride forward for humanity. It was a breath of fresh air for all who have endured seven long years of non-enforcement of any of our civil rights laws (or many other laws).

Whether or not Obama wins in New Hampshire or thereafter, the clock has been moved ahead. So take your white robes, your burning crosses, and even worse, your subtler forms of “some of my best friends are black” racism and know that a lot of people in Iowa have called you on it. They’ve shown the way and now it’s up to the rest of us to do the same.

My candidate is Edwards, but if Obama becomes our nominee, I will back him to the hilt. It’s our responsibility and duty to see that he’s not swift boated, or targeted by the typical Republican “Southern Strategy.” I will not tolerate one iota of racist intolerance from anyone – friend or foe – relative or stranger. And I thank so many Iowans for their decency and leadership on this issue.

there have been more than one thread here that seem to imply that people have made posts saying they would not vote for Obama because he is black.

Could you post one? I'm not calling you out (really). I haven't seen one on this site.

Thanks.

thanks. :hi:

saying that he cant be elected because he is black...

not because the person posting is racist, of course, but those other people are!

bs. bs. bs.

However, I have seen people say that he won't win due to his skin color.

One argument being presented is that Americans will act as if it doesn't bother them until they're in the voting booth. Then they'll let their latent racism lead them to vote against him.

It's all total blather in my opinion. I hope that last night helped show that to be a fact.

If people want to disagree with him or Hillary due to their platforms, voting history or other issues of substance I respect their right do do so. I even welcome the well reasoned out arguments as they've been enlightening for me on occasion. However, I don't have time for the race or gender impeding their chances arguments.

How do you know they are so noble? How do you know that white Barack Obama supporters don't still lock their doors when they drive through a black neighborhood?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're not Klan members, but come on... fighting racism is a whole lot more than "having the courage" to vote for a black man.

Edited to add: I hope Iowans voted for Obama because they think he'll be a good president, not because he's a convenient symbol.

they stood behind someone who they thought would be a good president.

I don't know how old you are, but I lived through the civil rights era. Few thought that what happened in Iowa yesterday would ever come to be.

I believe that people went for Obama for many reasons, but the color of his skin was not one of them. I don't know what you call that, but I call it progress.

It's impossible that they just thought he was the best politician in the bunch?

How do we know anything?

And they are not a "collective" group. It was a bunch of individual voters who all voted due to their own individual motivations.

I actually think that there's more of a chance that people are mindlessly backing the man because Oprah likes him than to assuage their white guilt, but I wouldn't assume that everyone felt that way. Every person has their own motivations, and we can't assign a collective motive to the results.

voted for Obama so that he would be the nominee, because they know that there are many who won't vote for him no matter how good his plans are...

In order for Republicans to back Obama to achieve some devious goal, they'd have to go to a Democratic caucus, stand up and be counted. It would seem to me that most people in Iowa know their neighbors and a Republican at a Democratic caucus would stand out like the proverbial "whore in church."

in the county where I work, and they are looked on as an embarrassment by the other folks in town. They aren't talked about, and pretty much keep to themselves because other folks look down upon their ignorance. This is Arkansas. Hope this attitude about the Klan spreads throughout the South.

because of those nut jobs, and their numbers get smaller each day.

The bigots, know nothings and throwbacks in Middle America, chose their candidate. An example of religious fanaticism and hatred of gays and the freedom of women, Mike Huckabee!

We can only hope that the Republicans in New Hampshire have more common sense, but putting common sense and Republican together is an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp.:)

If the Republicans actually go all the way and nominate this prehistoric man, they will probably lose by the biggest landslide in history.

I would like to think that last night, a plurality of white people from middle America sent a message.

But I think the winning candidates in both both parties have "issues" with gay folks.

Sadly, it still appears that "the days of looking down on what you would call “inferior human beings” are not coming to an end.

He also wishes to repeal DOMA so a gay marriage in Mass. would have to be recognized in Alabama.

Actually, the Constitution says contracts in one state must be honored in all states. So DOMA is unconstitutional anyway. I suspect Clinton signed it into law figuring he could make the bigots happy without legally harming gays. Poor judgement on his part it would seem given that the courts had been packed by rightwing activist judges who have approved numerous unconstitutional laws over the past twenty-five years.