Guest Columnist George R. Cotton Sr.
In reading Carol Daniel’s article on Claire McCaskill’s endorsement of Barak Obama, I found it curious that the compelling question continues to be “will women vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman, or will African Americans vote for Barak Obama simply because he’s black?”
While I am certain that some will use race as their deciding factor, does anyone else find it strange that no one is asking if there are white men who will vote for John McCain “simply because he is white”? But, then again, one would be foolish and petty to think that white male voters would allow race or gender to affect their voting logic.
One has only to look at statewide and national elections to verify that there is an historical precedent that shows that given a choice, white male voters tend to vote for the white male on the ballot. When we do any close analysis of political races, where women or blacks opposed white male challengers, facts show that white male voters historically chose white male candidates.
In statewide races for the United States Senate in North Carolina, and later in Tennessee, Harvey Gant and Harold Ford Jr. presented voters with the choice between well known African-American candidates and virtually unknown white male opponents. In both instances, the white male vote went overwhelmingly for the little known white male candidate.
There is both anecdotal and empirical evidence that white male voters do in fact look towards race as an important factor, just as any other group does. To deny this is to elevate the white male voter to a lofty position that has not been earned. When race is an issue, research tends to show that most people factor it in as a voting consideration.
African-American and female voters have historically voted for the only choice they have had, white males. It is almost laughable that, when faced with a choice other than that, we are challenged to explain our choice. Obviously, our choices fail to make sense if we choose anyone other than the white male. After all, we were never asked if we were voting for the white male “simply because he was white.”
As a young voter in Arkansas, one of my first opportunities to vote was for a young, feisty, talented and visionary thinker by the name of William Jefferson Clinton. I admit to experiencing that same degree of exuberance at the potential of electing another young, feisty, talented, and visionary thinker, who happens to be African-American, in the person of Barak Obama!