Obama Strategist: Race Won't Be A Problem In The General Election

Obama's campaign strategist David Plouffe spoke with the National Journal's Linda Douglass about the state of the campaign. When asked about a possible racial divide that has been reflected in recent primaries, Plouffe dismissed its effect on the general election:

I mean the vast, vast majority of voters who would not vote for Barack Obama in November based on race are probably firmly in John McCain's camp already. And I think if you look at the Democratic voters who are voting for Senator Clinton in some of these states, when you sort of look beneath it and you project how this is going to happen, Barack Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee. He is going to be articulating policies and ideas that they believe in. They won't agree with John McCain on issues like the economy and health care. And so I think that we are going to get the vast, vast majority of Democratic voters.

Read the entire interview.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[drzoon]

the reason it won't be a problem in the general is that the bigots are in our own party!

[tbone99]

Let's see you've mentioned catholics, old people, whites,,the uneducated, women as being the racists ruining the party. Its tough, eh, being an Obama supporter.?

[getoffmedz]

MSM echo chamber.

[Tellmethetruth]

As long as 92% of African Americans vote for obama solely because he is Black and for not other reason such as qualifications, racism is a factor, and Blacks have made it so. Americans can't close their eyes to the glaring obvious. Why is this happening? Whites don't vote 92% for one candidate except in a one-party system like communism or a dictatorship. What is going on here? Is there a Black mafia that has managed to intimate all Black voters to vote a certain way? This election is not the first. This smells that Blacks in America are controlled by a Black mafia and they must do what the Black mob bosses tell them to.

All one has to do is look at Rev. Wright to see the intimidation factor leveled against Blacks in thier own churches that insists that they give the "leaders" or mob bosses what they want or suffer retaliation. You can't have the drug culture and not have organized crime and mob bosses within the Black community. No wonder this group feels so oppressed but as long as they are brainwashed into blaming "whites" they will realize thier own "mob" bosses oppressors are to blame for thier oppression.

Blacks insist that racism be a factor in the election, even if Clinton win, Blacks will retaliate, so no matter what Blacks insist racism be a part of the elections.

[tbone99]

In other words -Somebody out there is bad, evil, racist, and it's not Obama supporters!

[tbone99]

Your argument would only hold water, if say, a conservative black ran against Hilary and was elected by the black vote by 92%.Given Obama's policy stance, a bit more progressive in some areas ,to say it's because of racism is just sour grapes.

Though whites don't vote 92% for one candidate, considering that they hold the reins of power ,they pretty much only allow candidates to run who differ by fractions,so it's essentially the same candidate in different shirts anyway

Your remarks about a black mafia are way out of line, you may need some meds.

[jsq]

Why is the issue of race only a "black" problem and one that only Obama has to answer for?? There was recently an article on this site about Republican strategists estimating a 15% bump for McCain due to racism. Why does he and/or Hillary not have to answer for their white privilege? Why is their no conversation about how neither of them beat Obama even with their white privilege?

[drzoon]

seriously. you don't get it do you?

blacks have voted for all sorts of white people by the very same numbers?

are you saying they aren't smart enough to vote for someone other than a black man?

pull your head out!

[realistxxx]

Blacks went 90% for Kerry in 2004. Is Kerry black?

[drzoon]

(that was supposed to be without the question mark on the word numbers)

[OnePartyEqualsTyranny]

You mean the 6% Hillary picked up in PA who wouldn"t even vote for her in the General. You know the ones that cling to G & G. Who would have thought. I"m not even going to be surprised when in the General we hear a rumor from this crowd that Obama the anti-American is going to repaint the Whitehouse Black.

[TrollsTakeYourMedstoo]

That was already said months ago by one of the rightwing pundits. Can't remember which one it was, but I do remember that he didn't get a laugh from his little joke.

[TrollsTakeYourMedstoo]

He was giving a speech before a crowd of his stooges. I'll try to find out which one it was.

[vsign]

The racism of Obama supporters to whites will be a problem and Obama cannot win in the General because of it.

[drzoon]

i am white. explain that one please?

as a matter of fact. if you are educated and white .. there is a good chance you are an obama supporter.

but if you are uneducated and white there is a good chance you are a hilary supporter

[pleeezzze]

You poor Obama nuts ! All you have is bad mouthing Hillary supporters because you have Nothing sensible to say for your candidate !

Do you really think people are so stupid that we don't know racism when it's being used constantly ? ( I do Not care what Color You are or say you are) ,It's still there .

[IQ]

BILL!?...BILL CLINTON?? .....Is that you??

[dadw5boys]

Educated whites are not the problem.

[tbone99]

You mean educated whites like Bush , Rove and Mccain?

Obviously education has NOTHING to do with racism

[RobtBrock]

The Obama campaign staff will play the race card over and over and over in the general. That is what they do.

[drzoon]

no they don't.

they just don't let hilary get by with pulling the stuff they try to pull in regards to race.

you just don't like the push-back

[IQ]

We all know what protects a Black Man against racially
motivated assaults, bias and racism in general
....FLAG PINS!!

[tbone99]

What's your data on that ?.because examining the states Jesse won in '88 ,it does seem like a preponderance of majority black states.

"He captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests; seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont).[15]. Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary.[2]"

ALASKA?

BTW ,he ran a very inclusive campaign( hence Rainbow coalition), with a much more progressive platform than Obama's and came in third frontrunner. Certainly nothing to warrant being considered as an insult by Obama supporters, who should be proud to be compared with a real activist.

Of course the people who considered it an insult , probably were'nt around then, so equate him with Sharpton, which is a whole 'nother story.

[tbone99]

This was a reply to Countdown 09's statement that blacks didn't go for Jesse.Jackson.Not sure how it ended up here.

[DrDemon]

I'm hoping "Race Wont Be A Problem In The General Election" either.

Obama truly has demonstrated that he has the aptitude and capabilities to make sound presidential decisions, on a daily basis, to head this country in a much more positive direction... not to mention what his ability will be to mending realtionships and creating more alliances around the world.

This country should grow up and get over the ignorant bs such as skin color! Obama is truly qualified in my eyes. And a MILLION times more qualified than what is in the White House master bedroom this minute!

[nivek]

Reverend Mike Huckabee must turnover his Christian card immediately. Aren't the ten commandments on the back?

[Countdown09]

I thought it was worth mentioning to people who say African Americans are "only" voting for Sen. Obama because he's black that -- neither Jessie Jackson nor Al Sharpton got anything near this kind of support among AA's when they ran for President. So I think it's fair to say AA's are voting not just for a black candidate they are voting for what they see is a "qualified black candidate".

[Countdown09]

David Axelrod, Sen. Obama's campaign manger (who I think is the best in the buisness) has been through this type of race before - he was also Deval Patrick's (African American) manager. Patrick is now the Gov. of MA. Sen. Obama is a very smart man and I'm pretty sure as he's been a black man all his life he was aware that race would be "somewhat" of an issue -- I suspect he would have never put himself and his family through this ordeal had he not known he had a very good chance of winning. I suspect allot of those people who won't vote for a black person most likely also have a problem voting for a women.

[drzoon]

you know what? i think what we are learning from this is that older women are surprisingly racist.

and the older female catholic... it's almost no doubt that in general, they are more bigoted than anyone ever thought could be.

its something that i think we will be looking back on for some time now .. that racism has been hiding in white women... and that is why we have had such a hard time dealing with it for all these years when white and black have been working and playing with each other for so long.

its women... older women... and if catholic... ? for sure

[tbone99]

Yeah ,so many people are old,evil, female, ignorant, religious, uneducated and racist. ,
It's a bitch isn't it.?.Thank god for Obama supporters.

[tbone99]

Is David Plouffe from another country? A country in which race just means appreciation for difference?Because he certainly can't be talking about the America I know. Americans of all color still hold many latent racialized stereotypes that can be triggered to to raise havoc and given the GOP's prior strategies they are more than willing to engage them.

The Wright controversy was a stupid error on the part of a politician running for office, not that Rev Wright was wrong. But that B.O. couldn't foresee that it would be a problem shows a serious lack of comprehension of the majority of the American electorate, that is going to get him into trouble down the road. The GOP is just warming up, it's gonna get very ugly and many moderates and fence sitters can still be swayed. H.C's. ability to stay afloat shows that not all Dems are overwhelmingly in his camp. Will the bitter class come through for him is a question yet to be seen.

[Aywaller]

"Will the bitter class come through for him is a question yet to be seen." Did you mean him or her? Because I think Clinton has a lock on the "bitter" vote.

Of course not all Dems are in Obama's camp; in fact, based on the numbers so far, a clear majority of the Dems aren't in Clinton's camp, either.

Obama can't win with people who are willing to hold the whole "Rev. Wright" controversy against him and I don't think anyone believes he will win them over going forward. These people would never have voted for him anyway--they were just looking for a reason other than his race to justify their decision. I think Plouffe is right. The vast majority of those who would vote for McCain in November--especially those Republicans who "crossed over" and voted for Clinton AND those Clinton supporters who now say they will vote for McCain if Obama is the nominee--were never going to vote for Obama in a general.

[tbone99]

Its convenient to shrug off people who don't vote for him as "wouldn't have voted for him anyway" .That absolves he and his campaign of their responsiblity to have dealt with the Wright stuff ahead of it becoming a crisis.Breaking with Wright should have been one of the first tough decision s he had to make upon deciding to run for national office, if he was really serious.Not making that decision is already being used to hurt ALL Dems, as the ads in S.Carolina show..

In fact , I think his early post racial stance was a refreshing new way for the bitter class to open up to African Americans , but that opportunity is down the drain now.He would have been able to win over many more of them too, if his campaign had just let that Clinton stuff just wash on by.It was certainly ambiguous enough to ignore ,and not worth the cost of alienating working class whites, who almost always feel defensive about not "getting" discrimination..

[Pammy1151]

I believe that many people who say they will not vote for Hillary if she ends up stealing the election (is given it by super delegates and Obama is ahead in all the math) and will either stay home, write in Obama's name or vote for McCain. I don't see any way she can win unless Obama completely does himself in some way or the other. Yes, there are some women out there that would vote for her no matter what because they are as simple as she is but that will be it. So hello to President McCain.