Amazingly, the editors of the Daily News decided to run the greatest story yet written this year in Saturday’s edition (official motto: “Nearly 2 cents per page!”). Dave Davies followed around Joe Biden in Northeast Philly, and the laughs didn’t stop ’til he left the Dining Car.
But first, Davies chatted with Mike McAleer, the Democratic ward leader in the 66th ward, home of one Daniel Hall McQuade for the first 17 or so years of his life. What’s the problem with getting people there to vote for Obama?
“The Dunkin’ Donut crowd tells me that we’ve got everything going for us but Obama,” McAleer said. “They can’t give me a direct answer. Do I have them right now in the 66th ward? No. But I got 60 days to get them.”
Asked what the problem is with Obama, McAleer paused and said: “It’s his color… I tell them he’s half white and half black. He’s got a better perspective for everything in this country.”
Oh, to be a fly on the wall during a conversation between McAleer and one of those 66th-ward Democrats he’s talking about. But perhaps the vice presidential nominee will have a better shot than the ward leader. Let’s go to the Dining Car!
In a corner booth, Biden sat down and, after a moment’s conversation, planted a kiss on the forehead of Carolyn Bauer, age 89. Bauer explained afterward it wasn’t such a friendly encounter.
“I told him I’m not going to vote for him,” Bauer said. “Anybody who runs with a guy with a name like that is not going to get my vote. It’d be disgusting to get a man named Barack Obama as president of the United States. No way. I mean it… I’m going to vote for McCain and the lady.”
“[Obama's] a Muslim,” Bauer added. “He pretends to be a Christian, and he isn’t, he’s a Muslim.”
McCain/the lady ‘08, apparently! Hope you enjoy your 71-year-old president, America.
And then he said “shit,” because he’s a normal person and lots of people say “shit” all the time, probably way more than Bill Clinton does, and it has to be really stressful when you’ve already done this twice and your wife was supposed to be the nomination lock and now there’s this upstart freshman senator who everyone likes more than you. Right?
And so he says, “I don’t think I should take any shit from anybody on that, do you?” in response to his record on racial issues. Because Bill Clinton freed the slaves and everyone knows he is unassailable, as he is the first black president.
I know we Americans have short attention spans. But just… oh, I ‘unno, a few weeks after his big speech race, Barack Obama says that race isn’t a factor — in an interview with The Intelligencer, of all places.
Take it away, Barry!
“I don’t think it has been a big issue throughout this campaign,” said Obama, who pointed out that he has won in predominately white states like Idaho, North Dakota and Wisconsin. “I think that race was bound to have some relevance given that I’m the first African-American candidate to have come this far, but I have to say that the vast majority of Americans are much less concerned about race and gender than they are about (other issues).”
Those issues include rising gas prices, insufficient health care, job security and the war in Iraq, Obama said.
Yep! It’s all about rising gas prices. I can’t wait ’til Obama gives his historic speech on rising gas prices to combat his other spiritual advisor, who said higher gas prices are good.
Today at the National Constitution Center, Barack Obama will give a speech about his race. Judging by how well Mitt Romney’s Mormon speech went over earlier in this campaign, I can only assume this will clinch the nomination for Hillary Clinton.
Obama is an excellent orator at times, even though we’re not allowed to say that because it might be racist. But can he actually speak about race in America without being called a racist? Some “professor of race and pop culture” at “the University of Southern California” told ABC News: “We’ve never really had a proper discussion about race and racism in this society so when comments come about as they have throughout this campaign we really don’t know how to act.” Ha ha, good luck, Obama!
All of this stems from the earlier race issues in the campaign, like when Bill Clinton said white people drive like this, and black people drive like that. But Obama’s pastor, Rev. Wacky, said some wacky things like we shouldn’t be throwing everybody in jail. Obama has apparently already “condemned” this quote: “The government gives them drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants to sing ‘God Bless America. No, no, no, not ‘God Bless America’ — ‘God Damn America.’” This makes sense, of course, as Barack Obama wants to keep putting black people in prison for drug crimes at a rate ridiculously higher than that of white people.
ABC News says Obama has a “postracial” appeal and his speech will be about moving past race. I fear that somehow this speech will end in only one thing: President John McCain. Ohh, WALNUTS!
Today, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will square off in four states. Ohio, Texas and two pointless states vote today, holding some number of delegates. While many observers expected Pennsylvania’s primary to be the battleground on April 22, the election could end today somehow as well. I don’t really know how these things work.
Jerry Mondesire says “the pressure is enormous” to support the Hawaiian ex-cokehead — he supports Clinton and whines that “it’s almost like you’re a traitor to the black cause in many camps if you don’t wave the Obama flag. It’s on black radio, in churches, on the street.” You may remember Jerry Mondesire from telling Donovan McNabb he was a traitor to his race because he matured as a quarterback, threw more and improved his completion percentage.
WALNUTS! McCain, who’s going to keep us in Iraq for 300 years and start 40 more wars, is expected to wrap up the Republican nomination today.
Blah blah blah Ed Rendell blah blah white people blah blah blah Barack Obama blah blah blah Lynn Swann blah blah blah offensiveness blah blah blah people in Pennsylvania are racist:
Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black. “You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,” Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in remarks that appeared in Tuesday’s paper.
To buttress his point, Rendell cited his 2006 re-election campaign, in which he defeated Republican challenger Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, by a margin of more than 60 percent to less than 40 percent. “I believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann been the identical candidate that he was—well-spoken, charismatic, good-looking—but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so,” he said. “And that (attitude) exists. But on the other hand, that is counterbalanced by Obama’s ability to bring new voters into the electoral pool.”
Hey, kids! There’s a race war going on in East Falls, where the white people are rich and the poor people are poor and even the NAACP is split over it! But whatever, let’s just read why the former principal — looks like this story is over, actually! — upset some black parents:
Robey was one of about a dozen Mifflin teachers and parents who testified about their concerns at a City Council hearing Dec. 27. Another parent, LaShya Taylor, said she heard [principal Allyssa] Schmitt make the comment about Muslim children looking like the “flying nun.”
You know, she should be fired. If she thinks Muslims look like the The Flying Nun she’s clearly unfit to lead a school.
As you’ve no doubt heard by now from angry blog commenters (or whatever), Chaka Fattah brought race into the election last night by saying Michael Nutter “had to remind himself that he’s an African American.”
Yes, Chaka Fattah is attempting to pull old Milton Street talking points out of his bag of tricks in order to win the election. Good move, Mr. Fattah, but as much media attention as Uncle Milty got, I don’t know if saying Nutter has to remind himself he’s black is as catchy as “Watermelon Man.”
But whatever. Clearly, the big race-related story of the day is a thread started by one Dr. Chuck Williams alleging Nutter supporters are racist. I’m not quite sure how this works — White people who support Nutter because they think he’s not black? Black people who support Nutter because he’s not white? Asian people voting for Nutter because he’s not Asian? — but Dr. Williams does!
What are you lead counsel for phillyblogging Nutter-crats??? How can you claim to know what they were or were not inferring?
If you want to speak about truth, let’s speak about the number of white liberals who feel that Nutter is the….
‘RIGHT KIND OF NEGRO’
This kind of latent racism is as old as jim crow and segregation.
You know, there’s a lot of not-so-thinly veiled racism on Phillyblog, but not much, if any, of it supporting Nutter because he’s the “right” kind of black man. Then again, Dr. Williams also says his free speech rights have been violated on the private messageboard he posts at because they merged all his anti-Michael Nutter threads into one. He’s threatened to sue!
I don’t know if white people are supporting Mike Nutter because they’re racist, but I do know this: I never, ever, ever want Dr. Williams operating on me. Especially if his doctorate is in political science or something, but either way.
First, the background: E.D.T.’s parents are Christians who don’t agree with Halloween because of its pagan origins. (I hope they don’t put up a Christmas tree!) But they didn’t want their son to feel left out at school, so they wanted to dress him as Jesus for the school’s Halloween parade and party. The lawsuit says the school objected.
School districts have a right to ban students from wearing “offensive” costumes. I’m not sure how many people find Jesus’ message of tolerance and peace offensive, but I’d guess it’s pretty small group. And so, the lawsuit was filed, blah blah blah, et cetera.
The student, only identified as E.D.T., is in the photo at right. There’s really a lot to be said about this whole incident, too much to be contained in just one front page entry alone. So follow me after the jump to find out why Jesus has a pocket on his robe, what the school allegedly suggested the student be instead of Christ and just how hilarious the Inquirer comment section can be.
Gov. Edward Rendell — one of only three black candidates running for governor — won the gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania, according to FOX News projections.
