Obamaramma!

[semi-pro waster]

Originally Posted by loki

Here is the speech in full

Cheers for the link, I'm now listening/watching to it and it's a good speech. I'm perhaps most impressed by the fact that he managed to pay respects to Governor Palin with a straight face - that man should not be leading the Free World, he should be playing poker professionally.

More seriously, I'm quite glad that Obama won although I don't think McCain was a bad candidate I do think that Obama was the better candidate on policies. Time will tell if he does achieve what he promises though.

[petemc]

Originally Posted by Haly

Re The West Wing mentions: Just watching a bit on News 24 with the former speechwriter for Al Gore as well as a scriptwriter for The West Wing, and he's mentioned that the character Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits iirc) was based somewhat on the then Senator, Barack Obama!

Whoever their psychic was I want their number!

[Mondo]

Really good article on the front page of the Telegraph today.

[Justsomebloke]

Is it me or is it a bit weird all the Yanks patting themselves on the back because they voted a Black man in
I would really like to hear an interview with a Yank that doesn't mention it & tells me what is Good about this "MAN".

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by Justsomebloke

Is it me or is it a bit weird all the Yanks patting themselves on the back because they voted a Black man in
I would really like to hear an interview with a Yank that doesn't mention it & tells me what is Good about this "MAN".

Why have you put man in inverted commas?

I agree that perhaps too much is made of his race, but I think he is clearly the better candidate on merit so deserved to win the election. Thankfully race should never again be an issue in US presidential elections, so in future it will not be hyped up so much as it has been this time.

[Justsomebloke]

Just to try to emphasise the fact that he is just a man & his colour is irrelevant.

[dirtydog]

Race is not irrelevant to an awful lot of people though, hence a non white being elected as president is highly significant and represents a watershed moment - do you not agree?

[Justsomebloke]

In my mind I can honestly say No it makes absolutely No difference at all but Yes I do agree. For me though it just shows how many racists we still have in the world not the other way round.

[dirtydog]

Race is an issue for me, as I think it is probably for most people to a greater or lesser extent. I am white but I would not vote for a candidate simply because they were white, regardless of their policies or personality as that would be stupid.

I get the impression that some, perhaps many people in America did vote for Obama on the basis of his race, and that is regrettable to me. I have heard that some 95% of blacks voted for him - did they all do so purely on the basis of his policies/personality, or did some of them vote for him on the basis of his race?

[semi-pro waster]

Originally Posted by dirtydog

I get the impression that some, perhaps many people in America did vote for Obama on the basis of his race, and that is regrettable to me. I have heard that some 95% of blacks voted for him - did they all do so purely on the basis of his policies/personality, or did some of them vote for him on the basis of his race?

That would be almost impossible to quantify as I'm sure you know but I'd say beyond a shadow of a doubt some people will have voted primarily on race but some of those who did will be white. It does help that Obama seems the stronger of the candidates so maybe America gets the right man even if some people voted for the wrong reasons - a case of the end justifying the means perhaps?