Two potential candidates will make appearances next week at the Republican Governor’s Association- almost certainly including Sarah Palin.

The ladies think the governor is facing unfair criticism by anonymous sources.

Jimmy offers a fictional look at what becomes of Alaska's governor.

Filed under: BlackSpin, Elections, News

I can admit when I'm wrong.

For more than a year, I've been the leader of the "No Way America is Going to Elect a Black Man Named Obama as President" Club.

While a clearly superior choice to Republican Nominee John McCain, I simply didn't see how America could throw of its historic embrace of racial politics and allow the son of a Kenyan philosopher anywhere near the White House - without a guest pass.

I've covered race and minority affairs for the Associated Press for years and read virtually every major study and survey on the topic of race and voting. ...

The bottom line, I thought, was that most white folks might tell you race doesn't matter but when they punched that ballot on Election Day, they would stay close to home when voting for president.

But if the polls are to be believed and Barack Obama makes history Tuesday evening, my credit card will bear the brunt of my miscalculation. By my latest count, I will owe 5 dinners to friends, both black and white, who said all along I was being too pessimistic about Obama's chances.

With the election so close I can now say I've never been so happy being so wrong.

But let's say Obama goes onto win. What does that tell us about America and race?

Some will say the election will usher in a new era in racial times where skin color means as much as eye color. Excuse me but I'm not willing to go anywhere close to that.

I'm not certain that McCain's own stumbles during the crucial days of the election will be responsible for Obama's victory.

For example, polls are showing Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is dragging down the GOP ticket like an anchor for all except the most conservative wing of the party.

Would Obama be cruising to victory if McCain had selected Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or Elizabeth Dole or any of a host of more seasoned, solid and worthy running mates?

I also wonder if Obama would have this commanding lead if he hadn't been helped by the timing of worst economic crisis in more than a generation. The financial mess made McCain look like George Bush Jr., incapable of providing a roadmap to recovery, or even any encouragement that things are going to get better.
So forgive me if I don't get teary-eyed when I hear a television pundit telling me that Obama's victory is a triumph over bigotry in America.

Let's just say that McCain ran a terrible campaign and the better man won.
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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of the election for BlackVoices. He has been a journalist for 16 years; on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for The AP in Washington, D.C.

 

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We can actually thank John McCain, Sarah Palin and the rest of the Republican crew for mounting a campaign so miserably racist, so desperately mean-spirited and so thoroughly divisive that they emptied the bag of Republican campaign tricks for perhaps the last time. 

 

Filed under: BlackSpin, Sarah Palin

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill, BlackVoices.com



Can you remember another Presidential race in which a candidate on a major ticket has inspired a porno? In the age of celebrity sex tapes, maybe the American mind is primed for this development. So, with relatively little feedback from the media, Hustler is currently marketing 'Nailin' Paylin' online -- a movie in which a stand-in for VP candidate Sarah Palin is depicted as a stupid sex toy.

Ever since Sarah Palin came onto the scene, her beauty has been an important component of her public esteem. During the VP debate, she used her appeal in the form of winks and charm to win over the television audience. The RNC spent $150,000 on her clothes, hair and make up in part because the Republicans know her appearance is one of the best things she has going for her.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck of 'The View' has called attacks on Palin's designer wardrobe "deliberately sexist." The irony is that it was the RNC that sought desperately to enhance Palin's physical appeal at any cost. If Palin's own party groomed her as an object to be looked at more than as a leader, who is being sexist? Compare Palin's rapturious reception by the main stream to the gruff responses that the much more masculine (and qualified) Hillary Clinton inspires.

They say sex sells. Palin further proves that sexy is what the American public expects a woman to be if she wants to get ahead. Is that sexist? I think so.





Through 'Nailin' Paylin,' the public will have a surrogate image ready to stand in as the receiver of the desire I believe Palin intentionally arouses for political benefit. Meanwhile, we sit by passively as the degrading sexual objectification of a VP candidate occurs. So we have the "real" Palin out there campaigning, and the naughty "Paylin" on screen playing her bad girl doppelgänger. This split is an occurance of the Madonna-Whore complex on a massive scale.

Many people think sexism is dead, but the sudden media resurrection of this oldest of stereotypes shows that the role of women in politics is far from equal.

Palin set the stage for this revelation by exploiting her sex appeal in the first place. But the lack of outcry by the public or press against 'Nailin' Paylin' shows an unconscious acceptance, even a preference, for female objectification. It's obvious that making this kind of film about a VP candidate is in poor taste. What does the fact that people are accepting it say about our respect for female candidates?

 

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Filed under: BlackSpin, News

Nancy Grace Interviews Family in Hudson Case
Nancy Grace gets an interesting interview with key people in the Hudson case. The mother of the main suspect says her son isn't involved and gets all sassy with Nancy. Watch the interview.


ABC Did Not Air Obama Infomercial

 

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With just six days to go until the presidential election, the Obama campaign has released its first major TV ad attacking Sarah Palin while McCain's new ad attacks Obama's experience.

I admit I watch The View, but I think Elisabeth Hasselbeck crossed the line when she campaigned for Sarah Palin and defended the $150,000 spent on outfitting the Palins.