More on whether Barack Obama could be a racial messiah without being an African American
Now here is a spectacularly sily response by Ruben Navarrette to Geraldine Ferraro's remarks about how Barack Obama wouldn't be in the position he's in if he weren't black.
It would obviously be silly to say that either being an African-American or a woman in itself is a "golden ticket" to the White House. But again, that's not what Ms. Ferraro said. In fact, she was quite forthright in making the same point Navarrette makes: that Ferraro herself would never have gotten to be the 1984 Democratic vice-presidential nominee were she had not been a woman!
Sen. Obama owes his success thus far in the campaign partially to an eloquence and a charisma which doubtless would eventually have taken any politician far. In time, I have no doubt that a man of Sen. Obama's intellect and talent would have assembled a record which would have made him a very formidable candidate for the White House on his own merits. But what he is right now is a senator in the third year of a first term spent more making speeches out of town than attending to the nation's business. His lack of experience abysmal. His record in public life is essentially that he achieved as a member of the Illinois General Assembly- and that is simply not an adequate basis to qualify anybody for the presidency, no matter how good he claims his "judgement" is.
Why, then, is he the front runner for the Democratic nomination?
Because of a cult of personality that approaches the messianic- and I am not the first by any means to use that particular adjective. And the job of a messiah is to deliver his people from bondage.
Obama is a media darling and a "rock star" in large measure because he's perceived as a racial messiah. Yes, he is smart, and yes, he is charismatic. But make Obama's race- and thus, his status as a racial messiah- away, and he is nothing but a promising, eloquent, bright, and callow young senator with no claim at all to being taken seriously as a candidate for president. Take those things away, and Hillary Clinton would have clinched the nomination by now- because Obama never would have run in the first place.
One may well disagree with the notion that If Obama were white, he wouldn't be a messianic "rock star"- and that thus he wouldn't be a serious candidate for president. Certainly that notion is speculation, just as it's speculation to say that Hillary Clinton wouldn't be as strong a candidate for the presidency (or a candidate at all) if she were not a woman, or even if she hadn't been married to the President of the United States. Certainly as things stand, her own qualifications are not nearly as formidible as she suggests.
Speculation, in both cases. But it's reasonable speculation, and it's baloney to suggest otherwise.
Perhaps it's going to far, as Navarrette says, to remark that "whoever wins the Democratic nomination, affirmative action wins." And it's certainly the case that, in general, being either African American or a woman is sadly a substantial disadvantage rather than an advantage in a presidential candidate.
But the specific case of Barack Obama- and, for that matter, the cases of both Gerry Ferraro and Hillary Rodham Clinton- are exceptions to the rule, and it's just not honest to pretend otherwise.
ADDENDUM: Anybody with any lingering doubts about the racial messiah bit should read this.
It would obviously be silly to say that either being an African-American or a woman in itself is a "golden ticket" to the White House. But again, that's not what Ms. Ferraro said. In fact, she was quite forthright in making the same point Navarrette makes: that Ferraro herself would never have gotten to be the 1984 Democratic vice-presidential nominee were she had not been a woman!
Sen. Obama owes his success thus far in the campaign partially to an eloquence and a charisma which doubtless would eventually have taken any politician far. In time, I have no doubt that a man of Sen. Obama's intellect and talent would have assembled a record which would have made him a very formidable candidate for the White House on his own merits. But what he is right now is a senator in the third year of a first term spent more making speeches out of town than attending to the nation's business. His lack of experience abysmal. His record in public life is essentially that he achieved as a member of the Illinois General Assembly- and that is simply not an adequate basis to qualify anybody for the presidency, no matter how good he claims his "judgement" is.
Why, then, is he the front runner for the Democratic nomination?
Because of a cult of personality that approaches the messianic- and I am not the first by any means to use that particular adjective. And the job of a messiah is to deliver his people from bondage.
Obama is a media darling and a "rock star" in large measure because he's perceived as a racial messiah. Yes, he is smart, and yes, he is charismatic. But make Obama's race- and thus, his status as a racial messiah- away, and he is nothing but a promising, eloquent, bright, and callow young senator with no claim at all to being taken seriously as a candidate for president. Take those things away, and Hillary Clinton would have clinched the nomination by now- because Obama never would have run in the first place.
One may well disagree with the notion that If Obama were white, he wouldn't be a messianic "rock star"- and that thus he wouldn't be a serious candidate for president. Certainly that notion is speculation, just as it's speculation to say that Hillary Clinton wouldn't be as strong a candidate for the presidency (or a candidate at all) if she were not a woman, or even if she hadn't been married to the President of the United States. Certainly as things stand, her own qualifications are not nearly as formidible as she suggests.
Speculation, in both cases. But it's reasonable speculation, and it's baloney to suggest otherwise.
Perhaps it's going to far, as Navarrette says, to remark that "whoever wins the Democratic nomination, affirmative action wins." And it's certainly the case that, in general, being either African American or a woman is sadly a substantial disadvantage rather than an advantage in a presidential candidate.
But the specific case of Barack Obama- and, for that matter, the cases of both Gerry Ferraro and Hillary Rodham Clinton- are exceptions to the rule, and it's just not honest to pretend otherwise.
ADDENDUM: Anybody with any lingering doubts about the racial messiah bit should read this.
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