Greenville, South Carolina - With 99% of districts reporting, Barrak Obama has been declared the victor in South Carolina with 55% of the vote. While Sen. Obama did pooly among whites generally, young affluent whites were drawn to his message. But when asked to define that message, many of these young voters drew a bit of a blank. Most fell back on the fact that Obama has "hopeful" rhetoric and seems like a nice guy.

Matt Troutman, a grad student from Maryland, said he was taken by Obama's optimistic tone. "I just like what he called the corny message of hope," he said.
http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/NEWS03/301260001/-1/rss

John Dabney, a computer science major from Greenville, said, "He seems like he can work together with people and not just fight about everything."
http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/NEWS03/301260001/-1/rss

Still other young voters have focused on more pressing and relevant issues, like the fact that Obama is a "hot" black man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU

Whether any of this clumsy reasoning will matter in November is still unclear to this tee-dubber. But one thing is certain. White college kids don't know fuck about fuck-all. The dim muddle they consider serious discourse is a total gob of fucking mess. I weep for young America and her infactuation with charismatic rock-star politicians.

[Edited on January 27, 2008 at 1:31 AM. Reason : Vote Smart. Vote Edwards. ]

1/27/2008 1:22:48 AM

I wonder if the white students were also drawn to Jessie Jackson back in 84 and 88?

1/27/2008 1:25:07 AM

people vote for candidates for shitty reasons?

how the fuck is this any different than any other election

1/27/2008 1:26:55 AM

Voting based on ignorance is surely confined to young whites.



Swift boat veterans FTW

1/27/2008 1:27:20 AM

Gee, a vaguely liberal message of optimism attracts affluent white kids?

Who'd have imagined that happening?

1/27/2008 1:57:07 AM

Bush for Fuhrer '08












































Pre edit: Godwin's Law!

1/27/2008 1:59:41 AM

What, exactly, does this have to do with white guilt?

1/27/2008 2:45:05 AM

I wonder, do these overwhelming statistics fall in line for people of other races as well?

I.E. Are college kids just image whores who like a candidate who sounds and looks good (and has that liberal progressive message of hope and optimism thing going for him)?

1/27/2008 3:03:04 AM

^^ I don't know if you noticed this or not, but uh... Obama's black. Therefore voting for him is somehow assuaging their collective consciences, or something. Right.

1/27/2008 3:04:12 AM

^ He's only half black. Or he's just as much white as he is black.

They still have another half-black person to go.

1/28/2008 9:14:52 PM

obama is only 4/5ths a man

1/28/2008 9:30:04 PM

wow, terrible thread

1/29/2008 12:09:34 AM

Quote :

"Are college kids just image whores who like a candidate who sounds and looks good "

Most people are just image whores.

1/29/2008 12:12:04 AM

Socks has got it out for Barack.

Sad. Politics of haterade. Just sad.

1/29/2008 12:19:36 AM

he's the best of the options at hand. i don't want a republican and i don't believe clinton can win a general with how much many americans dislike her. hell i'm not sure i would vote for her if mccain was the republican nominee.

but to address your point: i think the biggest deal with obama is that he's an inspiring speaker. that's how he first got my attn in 2004 and probably why he has held the attention of most who have seen him in person.

[Edited on January 29, 2008 at 1:10 AM. Reason : .]

1/29/2008 1:09:55 AM

Socks has a legitimate point, and ^ further proves it. Obama is more about style than substance. His platform is nothing groundbreaking, and most voters couldn't even tell you how it differs from Clinton's and Edwards'.

But "He speaks so well!"

I think Obama would make for a good President if paired with a Republican congress. He would do wonders in foreign policy, and gridlock is usually good for the economy. I worry about how much he would expand government if he were empowered by the current democrat-led congress.

1/29/2008 2:01:39 AM

Socks``, I'm not gonna read this whole thread to see if someone else has already said this, because if they have, it bears repeating.

Every candidate has people who support him or her for stupid reasons. I get that you don't like Barack Obama so much. We all do. You can quit making threads about it.

1/29/2008 2:47:17 AM

I gotta admit that I'm not clear on what Obama is all about, and I haven't been too keen on what I do understand of him, but I've been pretty supportive of him in conversation. I don't think that has anything to do with white guilt. It's more about how the media has framed our interactions with one another--where nobody is really able to figure out the facts and it's all about these little narratives they sell.

1/29/2008 4:33:02 AM

Quote :

"His platform is nothing groundbreaking, and most voters couldn't even tell you how it differs from Clinton's and Edwards'. But "He speaks so well!" "

alright, well say you think that Obama and Clinton are generally equal, policy wise, and there is not much politically to differentiate them.

..... would it not stand to reason that you would then choose the one that does speak and carry himself well and does not come across as a stone cold bitch?

1/29/2008 6:34:05 AM

if anything, Obama has aligned himself further left than Hillary.

he is a dynamic speaker, but it takes much more than that to be a good leader. he and Hillary both lack political and leadership experience (being first lady does not count) and that is why either of them will lose to the GOP. I bet that he will be President one day, but I dont think it will be on this go-round.

1/29/2008 9:33:48 AM

It takes more than a platform to make a leader. While style is certainly not everything, stylistic differences do matter. When you have candidates with similar platforms, why wouldn't you choose the one that is demonstrating the interest and ability to pull new people into the process, work across the aisle, and connect with people? Add this to the fact that he isn't nearly as polarizing as Hilary and you have a candidacy many will support.

Some have attempted to make this campaign about race. Obama is not one of them.

1/29/2008 10:44:30 AM

^ good points.

1/29/2008 10:46:15 AM

^^said it much better than i could. and interestingly, that's pretty much what ted kennedy said when interviewed (minus the polarization stuff). he basically said that he thinks that obama had a better shot at making his policies happen and bridging gaps between the left and the right if he were to become president.

1/29/2008 10:53:26 AM

Quote :

"What, exactly, does this have to do with white guilt?"

In this case Socks is just pigeon holing people's decisions into one of his pre-defined reasons behind said choice.

You're only voting for Obama because he is black.
You're only voting for Clinton because she is a woman.
You're only voting for Obama because of white guilt.
You're only voting for Clinton because of male guilt.
You're only voting for Obama because he is charismatic.
You're only voting for Clinton because she is an ice queen.

I don't know what's worse. Actually voting for someone for these reasons or automatically assuming that the only reason people want to vote for a candidate is because of these reasons. Actually, always automatically assuming these things tells me more about the person making those assumptions than it does about the people they are making the assumption about.

1/29/2008 11:37:00 AM