2008 Woodie Awards
NAACP: Justice for all
Get out to vote?
M.E. Osborne
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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11/01/07 - Let me first say that as an African-American, I am offended when people assume I will vote for Barack Obama in the upcoming elections.
It also assumes that African-Americans are so one-dimensional that they cannot see beyond a candidate's race which, frankly, is insulting.
Just because I may personally like Obama more and find him the most charismatic and attractive of all the candidates does not mean that I will necessarily vote for him. A candidate's politics are more important than his public persona.
The president does not have as much power as people give him credit for. He has to contend with Congress, the Supreme Court, the American people, his party, corporations, Washington lobbyists, political "think tanks," the media and, of course, the next election.
With the electoral process as public as it is, a candidate's persona seems to have become more important than his actual politics and abilities. Phrases and photos and carefully crafted speeches are what the American public sees from a candidate prior to elections.
A look at both the Hillary Clinton and Obama Web sites reveal that the two candidates want the same things. Their platforms are similar. They want what the American people want; they want to get elected.
That is not to say that neither have a genuine concern with helping the American people, but it is a simple fact that in order to get into a position to help others, a candidate must first be elected to office.
Once there, he or she cannot simply do what he or she pleases. The President must do what was promised during the campaign. This is an elected official's mandate to rule. If an elected official completely reverses himself after an election, he would have deceived his constituents.
It happens that candidates "flip-flop" or do not fulfill their obligations once elected. That's politics, and it is also a contributing factor to American's distrust of politics and political figures.
It also assumes that African-Americans are so one-dimensional that they cannot see beyond a candidate's race which, frankly, is insulting.
Just because I may personally like Obama more and find him the most charismatic and attractive of all the candidates does not mean that I will necessarily vote for him. A candidate's politics are more important than his public persona.
The president does not have as much power as people give him credit for. He has to contend with Congress, the Supreme Court, the American people, his party, corporations, Washington lobbyists, political "think tanks," the media and, of course, the next election.
With the electoral process as public as it is, a candidate's persona seems to have become more important than his actual politics and abilities. Phrases and photos and carefully crafted speeches are what the American public sees from a candidate prior to elections.
A look at both the Hillary Clinton and Obama Web sites reveal that the two candidates want the same things. Their platforms are similar. They want what the American people want; they want to get elected.
That is not to say that neither have a genuine concern with helping the American people, but it is a simple fact that in order to get into a position to help others, a candidate must first be elected to office.
Once there, he or she cannot simply do what he or she pleases. The President must do what was promised during the campaign. This is an elected official's mandate to rule. If an elected official completely reverses himself after an election, he would have deceived his constituents.
It happens that candidates "flip-flop" or do not fulfill their obligations once elected. That's politics, and it is also a contributing factor to American's distrust of politics and political figures.