How much of Obama's support came from racist white voters?
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  How much of Obama's support came from racist white voters?
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Author Topic: How much of Obama's support came from racist white voters?  (Read 3029 times)
The Houstonian
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« on: December 21, 2020, 10:43:55 PM »
« edited: December 21, 2020, 11:41:13 PM by Tulsi vs. Kamala 2024 Make It Happen »

From what I gather, Obama got a surprising level of support from racist white people.

EDIT: I mean white people who are racist towards black people.
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Hope For A New Era
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« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2020, 11:02:27 PM »

A remarkably high amount, at least in 2008. He would not have come anywhere close to winning Missouri otherwise.

I've told this story before, but - I once read about the experience of a campaigner or pollster or something in rural PA in 2008. He knocked on a door and asked the couple who answered who they were voting for, and the man said "we're voting for the n*."

So, yes, a lot. Obama was "one of the good ones," apparently.
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Matty
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« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2020, 11:08:00 PM »

Maybe there are a lot of americans who are racist towards arabs, etc, but not racist towards blacks?
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The Houstonian
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« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2020, 11:40:54 PM »

A remarkably high amount, at least in 2008. He would not have come anywhere close to winning Missouri otherwise.

I've told this story before, but - I once read about the experience of a campaigner or pollster or something in rural PA in 2008. He knocked on a door and asked the couple who answered who they were voting for, and the man said "we're voting for the n*."

So, yes, a lot. Obama was "one of the good ones," apparently.

I read about this happening (I believe on Quora) but in Indiana.

Maybe there are a lot of americans who are racist towards arabs, etc, but not racist towards blacks?

No, I meant racist towards black people.
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Hope For A New Era
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« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2020, 11:44:29 PM »

I read about this happening (I believe on Quora) but in Indiana.

Not surprising. I imagine there are quite a few R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-D-R-R-R voters in Indiana.
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Battista Minola 1616
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« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2020, 07:43:40 AM »

A sizable chunk of it. Of course a chunk of Clinton's support and Biden's support came from racist White voters as well, although certainly a smaller one.

How much exactly is impossible to know, obviously. No two people will have the same exact threshold/bar for what constitutes a racist person.
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DabbingSanta
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« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2020, 08:38:33 AM »

I would argue that racists wouldn't vote for a person of color.  Unless if you go by the 2020 definition of racist, which is basically a buzz word used by angry leftists and Twitter activists who can't think of any legitimate criticism for their political opponents.

If you go by the swing map, this really reinforces my idea.  What I would argue is the most racist state of the union, Arkansas, swung hardest against Obama.  White voters in West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana also swung hard R.  These Deep South and Appalachian states have a pretty long history with racism against African Americans.

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GregTheGreat657
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« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2021, 12:39:25 PM »

I would argue that racists wouldn't vote for a person of color.  Unless if you go by the 2020 definition of racist, which is basically a buzz word used by angry leftists and Twitter activists who can't think of any legitimate criticism for their political opponents.

If you go by the swing map, this really reinforces my idea.  What I would argue is the most racist state of the union, Arkansas, swung hardest against Obama.  White voters in West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana also swung hard R.  These Deep South and Appalachian states have a pretty long history with racism against African Americans.


I would say this is mostly accurate, but you are ignoring the white racists who support Obama because it be some kind of "wake call as to why integration was bad".
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Del Tachi
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« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2021, 01:10:31 PM »

I would argue that racists wouldn't vote for a person of color.  Unless if you go by the 2020 definition of racist, which is basically a buzz word used by angry leftists and Twitter activists who can't think of any legitimate criticism for their political opponents.

If you go by the swing map, this really reinforces my idea.  What I would argue is the most racist state of the union, Arkansas, swung hardest against Obama.  White voters in West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana also swung hard R.  These Deep South and Appalachian states have a pretty long history with racism against African Americans.



These swings/trends would be much more notable if they were isolated to 2008/12, but states like Arkansas and Tennessee have trended *very consistently* toward the GOP for decades.  Your point would be better made if these states resumed a "normal" level of support for Democrats after Obama left office but that hasn't happened.  Arkansas even swung towards Trump in 2020, meaning it has swung to the Republican in every election since 1992.
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compucomp
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« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2021, 01:23:03 PM »

A remarkably high amount, at least in 2008. He would not have come anywhere close to winning Missouri otherwise.

I've told this story before, but - I once read about the experience of a campaigner or pollster or something in rural PA in 2008. He knocked on a door and asked the couple who answered who they were voting for, and the man said "we're voting for the n*."

So, yes, a lot. Obama was "one of the good ones," apparently.

I read about this happening (I believe on Quora) but in Indiana.


It was in fact in PA:

Quote
So a canvasser goes to a woman’s door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she’s planning to vote for. She isn’t sure, has to ask her husband who she’s voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, “We’re votin’ for the n***er!”

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: “We’re voting for the n***er.”

My interpretation of this is not that these individuals in 2008 thought Obama was a reasonable black person or whatever, but that they instead blamed the 2008 GFC on Republicans and the Bush administration and that this was their top issue that year, so they voted for Obama as a protest vote. I think this interpretation would explain why that year was a huge wipeout for Republicans at all levels; the GCB was D+10.6 which beat Obama by about 3 points.
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Schiff for Senate
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« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2021, 03:00:38 PM »

I would argue that racists wouldn't vote for a person of color.  Unless if you go by the 2020 definition of racist, which is basically a buzz word used by angry leftists and Twitter activists who can't think of any legitimate criticism for their political opponents.

If you go by the swing map, this really reinforces my idea.  What I would argue is the most racist state of the union, Arkansas, swung hardest against Obama.  White voters in West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana also swung hard R.  These Deep South and Appalachian states have a pretty long history with racism against African Americans.



These swings/trends would be much more notable if they were isolated to 2008/12, but states like Arkansas and Tennessee have trended *very consistently* toward the GOP for decades.  Your point would be better made if these states resumed a "normal" level of support for Democrats after Obama left office but that hasn't happened.  Arkansas even swung towards Trump in 2020, meaning it has swung to the Republican in every election since 1992.

You make good points overall, but really, the 2020 result was I think the case of WWC Obama voters who reluctantly backed Clinton over Trump because muh Bill, but in 2020 they reverted to Trump. If you notice, every single county in the state barring the urban/suburban ones shifted decisively rightward. Rural counties in states like LA and TN did shift rightward but not nearly to the degree AR's did, which is why I do think it had something to do with Clinton, even if she lost AR in a landslide and underperformed Obama.
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Pericles
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« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2021, 03:02:01 PM »

Racism is a spectrum. Obama didn't win many people on the far end of the spectrum who just hate black people, but plenty of people who are racially insensitive or ignorant and some with a few racist attitudes.
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President Johnson
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« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2021, 03:40:13 PM »

Racism is a spectrum. Obama didn't win many people on the far end of the spectrum who just hate black people, but plenty of people who are racially insensitive or ignorant and some with a few racist attitudes.

This is the obvious answer.

Most of these voters switched to Trump in 2016 and stuck with him in 2020, obviously, though not all Obama-Trump voters are racists or racially insensitive.
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TDAS04
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« Reply #13 on: October 14, 2021, 08:28:12 PM »

Of course Obama won over several mildly racist voters, just as Tammy Baldwin received many votes from mild homophobes.
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Person Man
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« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2021, 10:47:49 AM »

Maybe some people became racist over time? Racism is a choice, not something you are born into unless you are criminally insane.
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