White trash racists are going to hinder Obama.

Wow, looks like we really haven't come too far since the Civil Rights movement. I've bolded the more racist and ignorant quotes. These bastards will vote for McBush I'm sure.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080609/ap_on_el_pr/obama_race

Racial attitudes pose challenge for Obama

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 36 minutes ago

Joyce Susick is the type of voter who might carry Barack Obama to the White House — or keep him out. A registered Democrat in a highly competitive state, she is eager to replace George W. Bush, whom she ranks among the worst presidents ever.

There's just one problem.

"I don't think our country is ready for a black president," Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. "A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania."

Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. "It has nothing to do with race," she said.

If Susick is right about Pennsylvania voters, it presents a major hurdle for the presumed Democratic nominee. Democrats have carried Pennsylvania in the last four presidential contests, and Obama would have to offset a loss of its 21 electoral votes by taking Republican-leaning states from John McCain.

Polls suggest that Susick, a grandmother of three, does not represent most registered Democrats here or elsewhere. But there may be enough like-minded voters in Pennsylvania, whose last two presidential elections have been close, to tip it to McCain.

In the April 22 primary, Susick voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who carried Pennsylvania by 10 percentage points. Perhaps more troubling for Obama, one in four Clinton's backers told exit pollsters they would vote for McCain if Obama were the nominee; an additional 17 percent said they would not vote at all.

Obama has time and money to court these voters. Polls indicate some can be swayed. But the first-term senator is wading into unknown waters. Political scientists have reams of data about past elections, but there has been no test of how many voters make their ultimate decision based on race.

The answer may determine the presidency. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Florida, with large numbers of white, working-class voters, could prove problematic for a black man even in a year that otherwise looks grim for GOP candidates.

Gauging voter sentiments about race is notoriously difficult. Many voters hide their feelings from pollsters and it is possible that some do not even realize race's influence on their behavior.

In interviews with 40 Pennsylvanians across three counties that Clinton won by big margins, only one person indicated opposition to Obama simply because of his race. But several others said their neighbors might do so. Some offered objections that are familiar, and suspicious, to Obama's aides and supporters.

A few, like Susick, suggested the nation needs more time to prepare for a black president — and perhaps a woman as well.

"I don't think we're ready for either one yet," said Doug Richardson, 62, a contractor from Latrobe. Obama "just hasn't impressed me," he said over midmorning coffee with a friend at Denny's. "His middle name bothers me a lot." That name is Hussein.

Obama may have little to lose with voters such as Richardson, a self-described conservative who likes McCain. More worrisome are longtime Democrats who backed Clinton in April but are threatening to abandon the party now that she is not the nominee.

Rose Iezzi, who lunched recently with two friends at a Greensburg cafe, is one. All three women are middle-aged, work for an accountant and admire Clinton. But only Iezzi took a hard stand against Obama.

"I think he's a snake oil salesman," she said. "He's a little too slick and smooth."

"He just doesn't appeal to me, and not because of race, definitely," she said in an interview in which race had not been mentioned.

Such comments are all too familiar to Richard Akers, who phoned dozens of prospective Pennsylvania voters as an Obama campaign volunteer in April. Democrats often explained their opposition to Obama with "excuses that were not rational or valid, as I saw it," said the retired bank director from Johnstown, another hotbed of Clinton support.

"To me, it was almost a code," Akers said. "'He doesn't wear a flag pin.' It seemed like code for 'He's not one of us.'"

In Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, some people hardly hide their prejudices.

Robert Miller, 72, who lives in a government subsidized room in Bedford, said the Constitution should be amended so it will "not let any colored people run for the White House." He seemed unsure about his voting record in recent elections, but vividly recalled voting for Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

Dixie Pebley of Johnstown, 71, explained her distaste for Obama, saying, "black doesn't bother me, but Muslim does." When reminded that Obama is a Christian, she conceded the point, but added: "He was born Muslim and raised Muslim, that's enough for me. He just scares me to death."

Obama, the son of a white mother from Kansas and black father from Kenya, was born and raised in a mostly secular family that occasionally attended Christian services. He joined the United Church of Christ as a young adult.

Obama has little to fear from Pebley, who said she no longer votes because she is disillusioned with politicians. But even some likely voters who are largely sympathetic to him are troubled by his ties, now broken, to a former pastor who cursed the United States and accused the government of possible conspiracies against blacks.

Kate Tanning, a Pittsburgh antiques dealer who was lunching with friends in Bedford, rejected Obama's claim that he did not know of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's most bombastic statements even though Obama attended Wright's Chicago church for 20 years.

"That's the one thing about him I can't believe," she said.

Obama generally avoids direct racial appeals, and he is likely to pursue such voters with familiar arguments: His opposition to the Iraq war and appeals for national unity and bipartisanship, for example. He may be making progress. National polls show him leading McCain among female voters and running even among Catholics, two groups that generally backed Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

But national polls are less important than those in the roughly 15 highly competitive states in which both parties will focus their efforts. These are all big states full of white, working-class voters who were Clinton's base, and include Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Obama will count on voters such as Iezzi's lunchmates, Susan Szymanski and Roxane Uhrin. Both said they strongly preferred Clinton, but will vote for Obama this fall in hopes of changing policies on the economy and Iraq.

"I don't want a third term of George Bush," Szymanski said.

James Antoniono, a Greensburg lawyer and veteran Democratic activist who worked for Clinton, said many Clinton backers will support Obama this fall, including some who told exit pollsters they would not.

"It's one thing to come out of the voting both and say that," Antoniono said. "It's another thing when you're faced with a choice in the general election."

Still, he said, Obama and his aides face tough battles. "There's no way they win Ohio, in my mind," he said in his law office, which faces Westmoreland County's elegant old courthouse. "I think Pennsylvania is winnable," he said. But he predicted Obama will "lose Westmoreland big," even though registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans in the county, which is east of Pittsburgh.

At least one Obama fan thinks the impact of racial prejudice may be limited.

Rick Weimer, a retired Coca-Cola truck driver who was eating a Chinese dish at a mall food court in Johnstown, said analysts are "pretty accurate" in describing Pennsylvania as Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west "and Alabama in between." Obama's race "will hurt him" in many places, said Weimer, who follows the campaign intensely on cable TV. "But when push comes to shove, people around here want change."

That might include some white Democrats who publicly criticize Obama just to fit in with their neighbors, he said. "Once they go into the voting booth," he said, "who knows?"

Anybody with racist views should be barred from voting and turned into a second-class citizen.

Only certain people should be qualified to vote.

that they were second class citizens, not qualitifed to vote? Are you suggesting that because people hold long held views, ugly though they are, that they should be stipped of rights as citizens?

Democracy is a complete mystery to you, isn't it? A nice comfortable dictatorship, that's the way to go. Everybody thinks the same, chants the same...

Obama supporters have no interest in democracy whatsoever.

this is the first purge sentiment I've read on DU (not counting the assholes screaming for Hillary to quit) - Obamabot or otherwise. And yes, it is way over the top and asinine.

Really?? what a line of crap.

It's why you're not on my ignore list, you really crack me up sometimes.

A few days left to regain your sanity.

Like they did slaves in counting the population ? "Your vote only counts 2/3 if you do not vote for a black person".. That even sounds like something a RW nutcase would say.

Is someone probably too stupid to register to vote.

This article picks out a few morans and expects us to generalize from them.

the folks quoted in this article are an embarrassment to Democrats, Americans, and all decent human beings. :thumbsdown:

spend a lot of time in those places and show them they're wrong about him.

I think Obama should spend less time with overt racists and really try to get that BIG majority of people WHO DON'T VOTE to get to the voting booth

but people who would agree with him on economic issues, but are "uncomfortable" with a black man, I think he would be able to make them comfortable with him. Hillary can help him with this, a lot of them are her supporters.

you'd have to be racist to the core and it would take much more than Hillary to "win them over"

I'm representing Obama to them and I think I'm going to play a small part in winning some of them over.

I'm working on the people who have never voted

I hope you succeed. Just don't expect too much.

the type whose racism only goes so far - there are alwatys "exceptions" for the people they personally know. Obama just will become someone they know.

Even repukes aren't that "uncomfortable." It doesn't bother them to have black generals or black secretaries of state or black Supreme Court justices. They just use the issue to try to inflame the racists among the voters.

These are the type of people who refer to blacks by the "N" word, and believe blacks should still be in the fields picking cotton.

and these are just the VOCAL ones......lots of people feel the same way but are P.C. enough to make up other excuses.....man, I know it exists but it never fails to floor me when I actually see/hear/read it :o

Some folks will NEVER change and should just be written off. He doesn't need them to win. The people making these statements are likely to vote Republican (or not vote at all) so there is no point in spending a lot of time and money going after them. The last the Democrats need to do is pander to these people for their votes.

there are a good number of racist idiots out there who are quite comfortable as such and see no reason to change, no matter how much scorn is heaped upon them. We just have to be sure not to become complacent and not let them stop us from doing the right thing and electing Obama into office.

Get your SHIT together!!

:eyes:

AFAIC, you can cut the whole state apart and toss west of Chester County in the garbage, save for Pitt and a few enlightened counties, towns.

Polls suggest Obama will certainly win PA. Remember, most of us live in Pittsburgh and Philly. The media loves to trot out the racist "Alabama" voters from Westmorland County because these people are all circus freaks. Personally I love reading interviews with these brain damaged racists cause they're an interesting sociological curiosity.

But mathematically, "Alabama" is insignificant. Pittsburgh/Philly will carry the state for Obama while the people from the center of the state will carry on like they always do...flopping around in their swamps, fondling their guns, and turning a hairy eyeball to the black man on their teevee.

It's my home.

If it weren't for Pitt and Philly, :grr: I know there are some enlightened folk in between.

I'll be voting absentee in PA in Nov.

I'm sure this tactic will be a brilliant vote getter.

It reeks of racism, classism, elitism...and shows a real understanding of the needs and fears of the human beings who share citizenship with you.

I'll bet McCain has you bookmarked. Reads you everyday just to lift his spirits.

I think that anyone who spouts such racist and ignorant comments is trash, it doesn't matter who you are.

Are you OK with these people referring to our candidate as "That muslim n-----."

The reason white trash needs the qualifier (white) is that the default assumption for "trash" is that the people are black. When you add the qualifier, what you're really doing is saying these people are not the default sort of trash; they are white. The implication is that white folks are supposed to be better than that. It's a way of insulting white folks by saying they are living up to regular White standards (which are higher than black standards).

You get why it's offensive?

Racist ignorant stupid white bigots who deserved to get pissed on following a stiff beating.

Is that better?

Or should we respect their racist views and agree to disagree? Screw those people.

who does not agree with our views. (sarcasm)

And "racism" isn't a matter of "perspective". It's not a valid view point, and it's not a simple matter of disagreement. I wouldn't even call it a "thought process", or an "opinion". It's a brain malfunction. Or an insane delusion, cognitive cancer, what have you.

Fuck em. They'd still vote for McSame if he was caught in bed with a live boy - their own.

I am not interested in winning these people over. Time is marching forward while these idiots are stuck back in the "good old days." Disgusting.

Did you even read the freakin article?

If people are racist they are going to vote that way, particularly if they are confident that all of
their racist friend are doing likewise.

I believe that the numerous discussion threads about the topic only serve to assure the racists that
they have lots of company.

You don't have "a national dialog about race" with people who only agree with you that racism is an evil to be abolished. Bigotry is built on a foundation of lies, fear, distrust, and superstition. I don't look at these people as if they were cravenly malicious, I look at them much the same way I look at people with cancer -- in this case, cancer of the soul.

The Obama campaign, in particular, has been big on hope. It's easy to have hope when the polls are looking good and everyone you know is with you in the cause. But can we sustain that hope when we are dealing with the ugly underbelly of the human soul? The recent Hillary partisans face the same dilemma; a Clinton victory would have merely shifted the struggle to the field of sexism. We are, at last, a party united.

Do we have what it takes to banish the fears of our ignorant brothers and sisters and neighbors, or are we really only "summer soldiers" in the struggle we claim to love? It's going to take a miracle. But not only do we have to hope for it, we have to work for it.

We can fight ignorance and hatred with more hatred, and rage, and hostility, or we can live up to our ideals. We can make the death of the old attitudes a turning point in history, to "bring everybody home", to free them from the atavistic disease that is bigotry.

I'm not saying "Hate the sin, love the Sinner", I'm saying "Hate the sin, convert the Sinner."

We have about five months to bring these people to their senses about race issues. It's up to US to create the miracle, to extend our faith from deity to reality. We need to find the faith that we can do this. There will be no better time to take that leap of faith than now.

--p!

I am so sick of hearing this bullshit! "His middle name bothers me.." "Fox news told me he was muslim..." FOR FUCKS SAKE! Would some one please destroy the M$M!!!

After 8 years of lapdog press, from the slurs regarding Gore, to the swiftboating of Kerry
I would expect nothing less from these POS

Yes Virginia, there are racists out there who won't vote for Obama. However, there are a hell of a lot more independents, liberal and moderate Democrats, and even republicans who are hurting bad, and realize that they have been taken for a ride with this administration, and that all mccain brings to the table, is more bush

they can go As far as the so-called long term Democrats, who won't vote for Obama because THEIR candidate lost, that is bullshit.

This is the republican talking points using the media to try a perpetuate a myth

I have no doubt that more than 98% of the Clinton supporters no that if mccain is elected, roe v wade WILL BE REVERSED, and it goes much further than that. We are talking issues from equal pay for equal work, the use of birth control, civil rights, corporations being considered as individuals, and so much more

Of course there is the Iraq War, the economy, jobs, healthcare, social security, medicare, etc.

Don't through some hack to selectively interview a few people, and try to misrepresent that is the direction of the country

Funny that the current polls show Obama winning over mccain, and that is with the media giving mccain a free pass

That WILL change very shortly

Just look at the media's speculation and predictions and how WRONG THEY HAVE BEEN

Keep that in mind when the MSM gets their ass handed to them on a plater after President Obama takes the oath of office

I live in PA and I spent Saturday with my family.
I noticed older family member will not vote for Obama because of his race.
But, many of my cousins (40 and younger)will vote for him. A few are even
Republicans. This race will involve getting out the young vote.

:bounce: :)

White trash is not recyclable or redeemable. Trust me, I know -- there is plenty of it around here.

And they insist on steadfastly believing things that are not true, even when TOLD they are not true.

Of course, what I really love is the "Oh, it's not that I am prejudiced, it's that EVERYBODY ELSE is prejudiced" syndrome.

The classic example is when Pennsylvanians say oh, we might vote for him, but he'll never win Ohio, because those people are too racist.

Try looking in the mirror sometime, people.

Oh, and those using the term "white trash" to describe them appear to have a bit of a racial problem yourselves. Why "white" trash? Are all black people trash by default, but only some white people are "trash"? And do you feel good about calling human beings (as stupid as they may act) "trash"?

There aren't many of these neanderthals left in America, those that are deserve to be left behind.

:eyes:

They'll always see Obama as a black elitist.

Put a plain-speaking white guy on the ticket, and many of them will vote for him even if they wouldn't vote for Obama.

As soon as I hear statements like that, I know EXACTLY what it's about.

because the truth will destroy their rantings.

What an awesome thing that will be to witness :)

January 20, 2009, at 12 noon, we will be witnessing one of the greatest days in our history -- Barack Obama's swearing in. :)

I think the number of racist Democrats who won't vote for him because he's black is about the same as the McCain-hating Repubs who will vote for him, plus the Dems who normally wouldn't vote at all but will this time.

Racist Republicans wouldn't vote for any kind of Democrat.

Overall, I think the race thing is a wash, a plus and a neg that will balance out.

deserves everything he gets. What a tool.

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Miller copes when his "government subsidized ROOM" is taken away from him, all because he couldn't stand the idea of a black president.

have OTHER reasons not to vote for Obama certainly not because of RACE. Fact is they will use ANY excuse, hell, maybe even his shoe size to refuse to vote for him. Like anyone can't see through that.

Nice bit of elitist arrogance.

I suspect you'll find just as many racist in the burbs and toney urban environments, they're just more circumspect. Same as these hideous pronouncements from fundie churches, they're from suburban mega-churches, poor folks in the sticks can't keep up establishments like that.