The Ascendancy of Barack Obama in Small Town America

UPDATE, 1-30-08: Exposing Racism: A Worthwhile Thing To Do

For those of you wondering how the Obama ascendancy is playing out in Small Town America, I offer you this column from the Independent, a weekly newspaper published on the East End of Long Island by Jerry Della Femina, the former advertising executive turned restaurateur and columnist. This particular piece was written by Rick Murphy under his weekly "Low Tidings" column. Murphy is also credited as a publisher of the Independent.

This article has caused quite a stir in East Hampton and beyond. So much so that the paper has pulled it from their website and Murphy, a regular antagonist of the Democratic Party, both locally and nationally, and the Clintons in particular, has replaced it with a brief apology. The Independent is considered the more right-leaning and Republican-endorsing paper of the East End community. Della Femina himself is regarded as one of the great Hillary-Haters in all of the world.

On the heels of Barack Obama being endorsed for the presidency by the normally close-to-the-vest Caroline Kennedy, whose invocation of her father's enduring legacy carries, in some people's hearts and minds, more weight than any ten such endorsements by others, please read what the local Republicans in my home town are thinking, and publishing, about Senator Obama. This is, quite clearly, not to be believed.

Article shots from Hamptons Plum

Comments

[thoughtsoutloud]

Everything I read about the East End of Long Island reeks of white elitists with a lot of power. If this publisher thinks it is safe to publish this tripe and get away with it out there maybe it means they are threatened by an Obama candidacy? Trying to find the half full glass here.

How you coexist peacefully within that framework Mr Baldwin? You just seem to have so much more on the ball.

It was good of Jon Bon Jovi to move out there, maybe you could get a good price on his gorgeous digs down the road here in NJ? I suspect you might enjoy the diversity over on this side of the river!

[Orikinla]

Even though I support Hillary Clinton for President, I will do anything to save the life of Barack Obama from racists!

Point of correction on race-baiting.
I have to address this in CAPS.

PLEASE, THE CLINTONS NEVER USED RACE BAITING.
Go and read what Rev. Jesse Jackson said on The New York Times.
The anti-Clinton bloggers and fringe elements in the mainstream news media are distorting the statements out of context.
Get the transcripts of the news reports and know the facts before jumping to conclusions.


There are some powerful political power brokers and Lobbyists who bear old grudges and have old scores to settle against the Clintons and they are now the aides and surrogates of Barack Obama and their ulterior motive is to use Barack Obama to scuttle the presidential ambition of Hillary Clinton to spite Bill Clinton and then Barack Obama will lose the presidential election like Senator John Kerry and the Republicans will retain the Presidency.

Barack Obama would fare better and be safer if he should cooperate with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards for the Democratic Party to win the presidential election.

As Jesus Christ said:
"A House divided against itself cannot stand."

The Democrats cannot succeed if they are not united.

The leadership of America is more important that the selfish ambition of any individual or ethnic group.

Most of the Blacks voting for Barack Obama are doing so for the selfish Dream to elect the first black Presisent of the United States.

We must not encourage the herd mentality of any class, race or greed.


The most recent sensational endorsements are sheer political opportunism.

We must not accept political hypocrites, political ingrates, political parasites and political prostitutes.
They are all political opportunists.
Hypocritical fair weather friends.

Toni Morrison's lastest novel "Mercy" needs an Obama effect to sell, because most readers are not even aware of her latest book.

Hillary Clinton made a TV show to break audience records recently.

I am seeing the parade of ignorance
In the masquerade of arrogance.

[abroadabroad]

Apart from being poorly crafted, decidedly unfunny, and just plain boring, this article is, of course, despicable. But the fact that racist sentiments continue to exist in America does not, as you imply, qualify Obama to be president. Caroline Kennedy's endorsement does not carry greater weight than anyone else's, for she is emotionally much too close to the death of her father to make an objective comparison. And Billary's awkward wading into the Lee Atwaters doesn't lead to the logical conclusion that Obama should therefore be president.

Here in Berlin, I'm far from Obama's soaring oratory, and as far as I'm concerned, there are two things that might qualify him for the presidency. The first is what he symbolizes to America and about America to the rest of the world: much-needed unity and redemption. But the symbol should not be confused with what it signifies, which has to come from each of us.

The other is his position on the issues, which is weaker and further right than that of Clinton or Edwards. As an American abroad with a record (or as it is euphemistically referred to, a 'pre-existing condition'), his doomed health plan wouldn't make it possible for me to return to the US, as Clinton's or Edwards' might. But I'm lucky compared to all those people in the US without insurance who happen to get sick at home.

And so I think it's terrific that he can inspire us, but it's not enough. It's up to us to try to inspire him too.

[chrismathewsgreatestfan]

The proudest I have ever felt about Americans and America is when Obama won Iowa. I was impressed that race was never introduced and the people stood up and voted for Obama, the man, the dreamer and the idealist. I'm a black woman and for a few days I felt comforted knowing my country is moving forward. I believe that the American people are less racist and more pragmatic than many elitist, politicians and journalists give us credit for. You Go America. I want Obama to win, but if he doesn't at least I had that one day when I felt we were all part of the same nation.

[larryfishkorn]

I wouldn't take their apology too seriously. Go to the paper's web page, and look for this little editorial nugget. I guess it's an editorial cartoon, but without any drawing ability.

January 23, 2008
Is It Just Me?

By Fredericks, Karen

[weareas1]

Hillary's fans warn that these kinds of attacks will torpedo Obama's run (and our chances for a Dem win) in November, but the reality is that this kind of stuff only helps Obama, and it will continue to help him when the larger Rebublican noise machine starts working the racist angle for the general election. This ugly stuff, the sick way it makes most people feel, and the dignified way that Obama himself handles it all just help lift him, and us, toward victory. That's in sharp contrast with the way the various ugly attacks on Hillary are percieved by an ever larger segment of the populace -- that in some ways, they just might be partly deserved. When the Repug spin/noise machine revs up to full speed in the summer and fall, it's far less likely that the good people of America will have the same visceral negative reaction to the inevitable Hillary-hating bile that all of us did when we read this gleefully racist piece from that little Long Island paper. And unlike Obama, she won't be able to use her attacker's blows as ammo to fuel supportive fire in the hearts of the nation (she'll try, but as usual, her efforts will ring false and desperate, except to the already converted True Believers). She won't pull it off partly because she doesn't really have the chops and grace to do so, and partly because the deep resentment against her (and her, um, running mate) has been building and building for about 15 years. If she's the nominee, it'll be like lighting a fuse, and unlike Obama, she won't have a fire extinguisher big enough to quell the flames. (and please, spare me the groans over my metaphor -- sometimes a fire extinguisher is just a fire extinguish­er.)

[Seattlelite]

I’m sure Senator Obama has unfortunately had to endure this type of disrespect all his life. However, it’s not stopped him from perusing his goals and dreams and I doubt it ever will. For me this says allot about the character and strength of this man. He wasn’t born into neither privilege nor wealth nor was he connected to insiders within political establishments, again for me it speaks volumes about the man he is. There are some that criticize him even now that his message of unity and hope for a better day is nothing more lofty pie in the sky ideas, but he knows that these things are possible because he’s lived and living it.

[carolinacowboyinla]

From one actor and more importantly one AMERICAN to another, thank you Alec for sharing this with us. I from the South and grew up in a very racist environment and I'm so glad to have grown past all that. I'm trying my best to raise my children not to see color but to see the person as a fellow human being, that has as much rights as we do. That we are all brothers and sisters on the planet.

I was sickened by what I just read, no actually I can't even believe what I read is real. It doesn't matter to me what your religious beliefs are, your political beliefs are, BUT at least have SOME morals and show SOME dignity and respect so you don't make a complete ASS of yourself as this writer, editor and newspaper did (if you even call it a newspaper)

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

Congratulations on the SAG award, you are very deserving on this award. I have always admired your work.

[MediaConcepts]

It's official: Republicans just aren't funny.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Wow, this is one of the most disgusting things I have ever read. I didn't think you could actually print cr@p like that in this country and actually get away with it.

There seems to be a lot of virulent racism on this board when it comes to Obama. The facists despise him, the Clintonites hate him with a purple passion. So much so, that many of them are threatening to vote for McCain if Obama gets the Democratic nod.

Quite frankly, I have never seen what there is to hate about Obama, unless one is a closet racist. He seems so very nice.

What I desperately want to know Alec, you haven't made clear what your point is with this article... Obviously, it's an abomination, and perhaps shows that racism is indeed extremely prevalent in America, and perhaps even small town America.

But, are you showing us this newspaper clipping to make us Democrats fear nominating Obama, because of the racism, and therefore subtly inferring we need to be careful about WHOM we choose for the nomination?

[knosiswar]

http://www.dellafemina.com/jerry.html

[knosiswar]

Della Femina 99 North Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937 [phone]

[myname]

Alec,

What is your point?

Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?

Is your heart aching because Hillary is having a bad week?

[PeaceChristBwithU]

I was so shocked by this article that I read it to my husband. We found it unbelievable that anyone would stand for this sort of thing. It was good of Mr. Baldwin to have the courage to speak out on this offensive racist drivel. But we are not talking about small town America, where Obama is doing pretty well. I am a farmer's daughter from North Dakota, and although I now live in the West, I have family and friends throughout the Midwest. Many of these folks are excited about Obama - there are newspapers and politicians lining up to endorse Obama, including Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who endorsed Obama prior to the Iowa caucus. These folks are against the Iraq War and holding a grudge against the President for dishonesty. Well, that's small town America, but how about the Hamptons? I think we in America have a view of racism as something that a very poorly educated and ignorant Southern white male engages in because he is at the bottom of the economic food chain. But racism is a lot more complicated than that. In 10 years as a civil rights attorney, I saw people act in unbelievable ways to those around them - a teacher calling an elementary student in her class "n****r," a manager advising a lesbian subordinate to dress more femininely or loose her job, a business owner refusing to allow Navajo women in her employ to speak Navajo, even though most of her clientele were Navajo. So these really rich and elite folks from the Hamptons engaging in behavior that is tolerated or even encouraged in Republican circles does not surprise me. The best you can do to these people is expose their worst behavior to the light of day and show it for what it is. That is what this post has done. It is a good sign that the post was taken down by the paper after angry responses from residents.

[Beregond]

It is always useful to be reminded just how real racism still is in this country. But as others point out, East Hampton is about as far from being a typical American small town as it is possible to get. A weekend haven for Wall Street dirtbags hardly qualifies.

I suspect that when human pustules like this voice their antedelluvian attitudes in this election, what will be most notable is the outrage expressed by their more typical neighbors.