Herman

Cain

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February 18, 2008

Wow! Barack Obama is African-American? Let’s Be Honest About Race

A few weeks ago, I heard Dick Morris, former advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, say in an interview that if Hillary falls behind Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary elections, then Hillary’s campaign would play the “race card”. Not directly, but through her surrogates.

Dah dah! After last Tuesday’s primaries, Barack Obama took the lead over Hillary Clinton in delegate votes for the first time in the Democratic presidential nominating contest. On Wednesday, a quote by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat who supports Clinton, appeared in the media:

“You’ve got conservative whites here (Pennsylvania), and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate.”

Wow! I didn’t know Barack Obama was African-American. I must have been living in a cave for the past year. And I am sure millions of voters may not have given much thought to Obama’s race, but they might now!

I first saw the quote on the Fox News Channel last Wednesday, and could not believe that Dick Morris’s prediction would materialize so quickly. Coincidentally, the Pennsylvania primary is on April 22. That’s about two months for voters in Pennsylvania to ponder Gov. Rendell’s comment. It may not matter by then, but it could matter at the Democratic National Convention next August or in the general election in November.

Let’s be honest about race.

Populist race hustlers such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have been exposed for their hypocrisy time and time again. Selective media outrage over racially insensitive comments is not even a debate. But when most of us believe we have come so far from civil rights to equal rights to equal opportunity, the Democratic establishment candidate plays the race card to remind some people of old attitudes.

Let’s be clear. Barack Obama is not my presidential candidate of choice. My intent is to remind people how easily it is for their attitudes to be tainted and distracted for someone else’s quest for political power.

This country is only temporarily color blind, until someone uses the power of suggestion to bring race from the back of the bus of someone’s consciousness to the front of the bus. The good news is that only a small percentage of people, black and white, fall for this age-old psychological tactic.

Gov. Rendell’s comment was not racist, but it was racial. And for some people, a racial comment is all that is required to stir up racist feelings. Or at a minimum, it is enough to cause someone to hesitate when they get ready to cast their vote for the next president of the United States of America.

Some people will always have racially inspired motives for their actions. But I firmly believe that most people have gotten past those attitudes. This is not based on a poll or survey or media sound bite. This is based on the personal experiences of my successful career in corporate America, and my impressive second place finish in the 2004 Georgia Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

I am black, and I did say I ran as a Republican in Georgia.

This country has a lot of strengths. But one of its greatest strengths is its ability to change for the better. And no matter how much we move forward, there will always be some people who will try to stir the attitudes of the past.

Now let’s get back to the presidential race.

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