Obama's Candidacy -- Beyond Race

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Sunday May 02, 2004 · 9:53 AM PDT

2004/05/02 · 09:53

There is a great piece in today's Chicago Tribune on Obama's ability to cross racial divides -- and name biases -- in Illinois. Since I know this is not a paper read much by folks outside of Chicago-land, I thought I'd pass along another bit of information about the man who will be one of our new Democratic U.S. Senators in Jan 2005.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

The magnitude of Obama's win, sweeping predominantly white wards, townships and counties with long histories of anti-black voting patterns, suggests that race may no longer be a major obstacle for black candidates seeking high office--nor may an unusual name prove electorally fatal, as it once did.

Obama, 42, a state senator and law professor whose father was a black Kenyan and mother a white Kansan swept to victory with more than 52 percent of the vote in a field of seven contestants. That group included several eminently well-qualified candidates as well as a multimillionaire vanity candidate who pumped more than 30 million of his own dollars into his failed effort.

[snip]

Capturing an absolute majority of the vote statewide in such a strong, multi-candidate field would be remarkable enough for anyone--it hasn't been done in decades by any candidate, black or white, for the top offices of governor or senator--but seemed a historic impossibility for an African-American running for either job.

[snip]

If Obama's appeal and ultimate vote count clearly and dramatically transcended race, he also apparently put an end to another Illinois electoral bugaboo, an aversion to unusual ethnic names, especially Downstate. Back in l986, two well-known Democrats, George Sangmeister and Aurelia Pucinski, believed to be shoo-ins running for lieutenant governor and secretary of state, were stunningly defeated in their primaries. They lost to two unknowns, followers of right-wing cult leader Lyndon LaRouche, who had the more euphonious names of Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart.

As one Downstater put it, he didn't know any of the candidates or what they stood for, so he picked the "smooth" names.

There were some who feared that Obama's name--which sounds dangerously close to that of a Middle Eastern terrorist--might cost him some votes. But, after the election of a man named Rod Blagojevich for governor, it proved to be another misguided concern. Obama wisely dealt openly with the name issue, explained its origins, even joked about it and carried on--as did Blagojevich two years earlier. (During the 2002 gubernatorial race another Downstater famously told a pollster, "I'm for the guy whose name I can't pronounce.")

I also like that the article was written by a person described as "a political consultant who...has worked for both Democrats and Republicans." So another potential constituency in the election: "Obama Republicans."

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