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Yes Barack Benefits From Being Black, Just As Hillary Does Being a Woman, White and Famous
The Charlotte Observer reported on its Web site Monday that Bob Johnson, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's top black supporters, was commenting on remarks previously made by Geraldine Ferraro, another Clinton supporter.
"What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called 'Jerry Smith' and he says I'm going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?" Johnson said. "And the answer is, probably not."
What Bob Johnson and Geraldine Ferraro don’t seem to ‘get’ is, yes Barack Obama has benefited by being black, in the same way that Hillary has benefited from being a woman, white and very well known political figure.
The difference between Hillary’s campaign and Barack’s is, he had to ‘work’ for his name recognition, where as, she did not. As she has told us many a time, she’s got 35 years of being in the spot light. Obama only had about 10 years of political service, only 4 were considered to be on the national scale.
It’s on record that many blacks were leery of Barack Obama’s campaign. Some felt it may be too soon for him to run, especially up against a well known, almost coronated nominee, President Bill Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton. They also felt that because he was black, enough voters wouldn’t rally around him as they’ve seen in the past with other black candidates. They were and still are, concerned about his life.
It was only after Barack talked to the voters in his own words, giving them his message about ‘change’ and ‘hope’, and only after he and his campaign strategists were able to prove they could possibly win the nomination by winning in Iowa, that Americans, and yes Blacks, came rushing to support Obama.
Yes Barack Obama is now benefiting from his ‘blackness’; but he’s also benefiting from his ‘whiteness’, his message to voters, and now after many months of hard work, ‘his’ well known name.
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