Monday, February 5, 2007
This past weekend, Illinois Senator Barack Obama spoke at a student rally at George Mason University. Obama is the only African American Senator currently serving in the US Senate, and according to many, a strong 2008 presidential hopeful. Many already assume that Senator Hillary Clinton and Obama will be battling for the Democratic Party nomination. Either candidate would represent a huge shift in American politics--not only a minority, but a woman. It is a huge leap from the usual trend of WASPy leaders. Obama has not yet officially announced his candidacy for the presidential race, but on January 16th has taken the first step toward candidacy by forming an exploratory committee. Despite the years of advancement for the rights of both women and minorities, both still have a serious lack of representation in the US political arena. There is still an unspoken prejudice against both groups, despite the equality that is proudly proclaimed in every part of the country. The decision lies in the hands of the voters, who will decide in the primaries. However, not to get ahead of ourselves, there still remains the fact that Obama has yet to officially announce his candidacy. There is also the question of Obama's age and level of experience. While Hillary has eight years of serving as first lady to husband Bill, in addition to currently serving her second term as a New York Senator, Obama is only serving his first term the US Senate. A huge difference in experience level will contribute a big factor in the election. However, many steps still must be taken in order for this predicted standoff to actually occur.
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“Despite the years of advancement for the rights of both women and minorities, both still have a serious lack of representation in the US political arena. There is still an unspoken prejudice against both groups, despite the equality that is proudly proclaimed in every part of the country.”
I agree and I believe people in the government as well as a lot of citizens want it to stay this way. I see this in the reaction to Obama declaring that he was running for the presidential office. The mainstream media like I expected bombarded him with a lot of negative criticism. He was criticized for his upbringing because of the school he attended. Fox even reported this story as though it was true. They said:
DOOCY: Why didn’t anybody ever mention that that man right there was raised — spent the first decade of his life, raised by his Muslim father — as a Muslim and was educated in a madrassa? (from the transcript provided by http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/19/fox-obama-madrassa/)
These statements can sway voters views of Obama based on non-factual information. CNN later did an investation and went to the school Obama attended as a child and concluded that he was not taught to be a muslim but a public school that allowed children to have different religious views.
People took this for truth without investigation or second thought. People should arrive at their opinions of others on their own not basing them off of what they hear or see without their own investigation.
There was a NYT article with that addressed the race aspect. The headline read: So Far, Obama Can't Take Black Vote for Granted http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E3DE123FF931A35751C0A9619C8B63 that Barack cannot depend on the black vote. I think this is not necessary just because someone is black does not mean every black person will vote for him/her. The reason is people actually think about what that person stands for and what they will do once they are voted into office. Imagine saying Bush can’t take white vote for granted headline. Exactly, I’m sure there are white people who didn’t vote for Bush but for Gore. So why is that it is assumed that all blacks will vote for Obama based on color. This is irrelevant and makes it sound like blacks are automatically supposed to vote for him and if they don’t they are bad or something. This just made me upset that this was newsworthy and even on the front page.
Why does this have to be such a race/ religious background issue instead of his qualifications for the office?
By: Nicole Howard
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