The things in my head go 'round and 'round

I came across this article on The Daily Dish blog.

Millennial Surprise

By Daniel Larison

Over the course of the last few months, Rasmussen has been tracking attitudes about voting for a black candidate for President. What they have been finding is that the public is gradually becoming more willing to support such a candidate, but what is most striking in the three surveys they have done is how constant and relatively great the unwillingness to support a black candidate has been in the age group you probably least expect. According to the three surveys, 18-29 year olds are now relatively less willing to support a black candidate than voters from other age groups. While resistance to supporting a black candidate has dropped in every other age group since February, and overall stands at just 8%, it remains basically unchanged among the youngest voters.

While older generations report slightly increased unwillingness among friends, family and co-workers (which is the pollster’s way of trying to get around respondents who self-censor), approximately one-fifth (22%) of 18-29 year olds state their own unwillingness to vote for a black presidential candidate. When asked about the willingness of friends, family and co-workers, the figure for “no” rises to 31%, which is the largest percentage in any age group. Older voters will tend to say they are less sure about the attitudes of friends and family, but there is evidence of more explicit resistance among 18-29 year olds in both responses.

Of course, roughly three-quarters of this group say that they are willing, and it is among these young voters that Obama has drawn many of his most enthusiastic supporters. Even so, what we seem to be seeing is that unwillingness to support a black candidate is actually much stronger and more enduring among young voters, who are much more likely now to say this openly. This would seem to undermine conventional narratives that Millennials are less concerned about matters of race than their elders, and it may be that the greater diversity of Millennials is a cause of this.

Young voters are just one group that needs to get out an vote this time around.

namaste.

How Racism Works

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating
class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said “I do” to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no
longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5? [The Keating Five were
five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a
major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of
the late 1980s and early 1990s.! ]
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election
numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes
positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in
another when there is a color difference.

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter….

You are The Boss… which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, two wars, stumbling health care, a
weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank
foreclosures, etc:

Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University – B.A. Political Science with a Specialization
in International Relations.
Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware – B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy – Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester
North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study
University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester
University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

Namaste.

Ok, so I suck at live blogging. I admit it. I got to wrapped up in yelling at the television.

MLW had to tell me to quiet down more than once. It could have been the influence of the Bell’s Brewing Kalamazoo Stout that I was drinking at the time. That is some good beer.

Anyway, I was not too impressed with how McCain came out on the offensive. I think that he just showed himself to be a bitter old man who knows that he is losing.

19 days until the election. Find out where your voting precinct is, and make sure that all of your friends know where theirs are. Start planning your election watch party. Get the drinks on ice, and order the cake.

Namaste.