For months, political punditry has centered around race and gender politics. Yet virtually every show’s host is a white male, the pundit selections often fall short (yet far more diverse than hosts), and Pat Buchanan is somehow still receiving a paycheck. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of punditry has been the last month of euphemism-laced questions about "Obama’s problem" getting "the white, working class vote" whether in Pennsylvania or West Virginia or Kentucky. A prime example took place this early Wednesday morning on MSNBC’s "After Hours" with Dan Abrams. Pundit Tucker Carlson states:
Tucker Carlson: "But the truth is this [big loss in Kentucky] says a lot about the state of his campaign. Here is a guy who says he’s going to unite America, it turns out he’s sort of a divisive figure.The 35 percent [gap] tonight in Kentucky, the 41 percent recently in West Virginia, those are not people who are affirmatively voting for Hillary Clinton, many of those people are actively voting against Barack Obama, that’s the headline."
Man that Obama is divisive! One second he is talking about unity, and the next second he decides to be black... perhaps he needs to revisit his campaign strategy! ...Luckily, pundits Ron Reagan and Tanya Acker were on the scene...
Ron Reagan: "With all due respect to Tucker, we keep talking about this as Barack Obama’s problem. Now granted he’s got an issue here with these voters here in Kentucky and West Virginia and Appalachia, but they’re the ones with the problems it seems to me...One in five democratic voters in Kentucky said ‘I’m not voting for Barack Obama because he’s black’, that’s a problem. But that’s a problem for them..."
Tanya Acker: "I just have to strongly second Ron Reagan’s point on this, I cannot believe that we are describing the fact 21 percent of people who voted in Kentucky say they wouldn’t vote for a Black man, how does that become the Black man’s problem? I mean that’s just beyond offensive... and if at the end of the day somebody says voting for the white guy is more important than getting health care, and fixing the economy then they deserve what they get."
The punditry has been "beyond offensive" every time documented racism becomes an Obama character flaw. While the exit polls in Kentucky showed that 21% of voters admitted that race played a factor, there is no telling how high that percentage is when including those that didn’t admit as much. But soon a 38 year old white woman and Obama supporter from Tennessee called into the show and had this to say in her pronounced southern drawl:
Stacy Jasper (caller): "I want to let the panel know that the reason that Senator Obama is not doing well in the South is because there is a tangible feeling here that no one feels comfortable voting for an African-American in the south. They just don’t. I don’t know if it’s based on they feel like there may be ramifications for their past actions or their ancestors past actions if they were to vote for an African-American, but the majority of the people that I work with or my husband works simply will not vote for an African-American whether he was running against Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton or the worst person in the party. They will just not vote for an African-American. It’s a sad state. I certainly don’t feel that way."
After hearing this caller, after getting the exit poll data, after seeing various youtube interviews of West Virginia voters confirming these facts, when will the political pundits use their time to address the problem of entrenched racism that is being exposed once again on our national stage? While a couple of hosts like Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have started this dialogue, it has been the exception more than the rule. Now is a good a time as any for media hosts to confront racism, instead of those who expose it.
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Note: On the show Ron Reagan also pointed out that that the complexity of the issue is not limited to race, but race, class, and geography as the very white state of Oregon voted overwhelmingly for Obama.