Ground Game

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial today countering the shallow articles by Slate's Jacob Weisberg and New York Magazine's John Heilemann claiming that if Barack Obama is not elected president it's because America is racist.

A few rather obvious things I would add: If white voters not supporting a black candidate is racist, then aren't African-Americans supporting Barack Obama largely because he is black an example of racial prejudice? It may be done out of pride, but it's still placing one's racial identity over other considerations.

Second question for Weisberg/Heilemann: Very few Democrats voted for Michael Steele in his successful run for Maryland Lt. Governor, and his subsequent unsuccessful bid for governor. Are those voters racist? Or, does that only count if you're not white, but are a Democrat?

All this is not to say that race won't be a factor in the election. But to assume that it will be the only, or main, factor for Obama not winning is a straw man argument. I can think of a few, non-racist, reasons people might not vote for the Democratic presidential nominee: They are Republicans, they support the war in Iraq, they favor limited government, they are disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, they don't think Obama is ready to be president, they are veterans/former POWs who want to support a fellow vet, they are voting for a third party candidate, they do not vote, they support gun rights, they oppose abortion, etc.

What Obama's political ascension really says about America is almost entirely positive. Democrats declined to vote for the most famous family in their party in favor of an African-American neophyte, and Republicans so far have made race far less of a factor than Democrats did in the primaries, countering stereotypes about how Republicans think/vote.

And remind me again how many black politicians have been elected to office by our enlightened, European pals?