What About The White Guys?

As they analyze the Democratic primaries, pundits focus on women, African Americans and Latinos. What about the white male? In the privacy of the voting booth, where will the white men go in November? Hillary Clinton should be worried.

Look at the match-ups. Examine Democratic and Independent voters. Democratic women are not going to abandon their party regardless of the nominee. Nor will Latinos. African Americans may lose some enthusiasm without Obama. Young people, notorious for sitting on the sidelines, may as well. But what about white men? When given the choice between Clinton and McCain, I believe many moderate and conservative Democrat/Independent males will vote for the old soldier. His narrative, the maverick aviator, speaks to them. That may not be true if Obama is on the ballot. As he gains support among white males, the exit polls show the real hidden bias may be gender, not race.

As we examine shifting alliances and lay bets on the general election, my swing vote is the Democrat/Independent white male. To paraphrase Abigail Adams, "don't forget the laddies".

Read more Super Tuesday coverage on HuffPost

Comments

[StanQ]

Wait until the white guys find out that the maverick aviator dumped his training plane into the ocean and later flew into power lines. Would you fly with that clown?

[Countess]

Clinton has no chance in the general election as she has absolutely no crossover appeal. She will be strictly limited to her party's partisans and that is not enough to win in november.

[jbowen43]

If we're worried about McCain's narrative then we need to get the fact out there to fight the myth created by Mr. McCain and his friends and compadres in the mainstream media. For too long we have allowed the corporate media to define our candidates and their favorites. That's how we got Bush and Reagan. McCain is an unsavory character but you would never know it when reading or listening to the fawning media. His history in the military ain't that great either. Take a look at his performance prior to being shot down and captured.

[Kungfublood]

I agree if men vote after using their brain and look at who will cover up bush's crimes and lead the country un a new direction they will vote for Obama, and if they are stupid TV watching robots they won't vote for a "woman". So yes Hillary Clinton should be worried.. unless she can get all the men to use her machines when they cast their votes.If she "wins" Then Bush and Cheney will have many wonderful years to "laugh about the dead while spending the tax money they have stolen from us."

[Micaanab]

I am a white male. And an Obama supporter. I do not like how Clinton campaigned against Obama (a fellow democrat) and would really consider voting for the green party candidate.
But I know if I do, we will be looking at McCain in the oval office. The problem is, there are many that feel the same way I do and will vote against Clinton. I don't feel I am against Clinton because she's a woman. I have voted for woman many times in the past. I just don't believe she is the right woman for the job. But I agree there are men out there that don't want a woman running this country. And maybe it is time to have a woman to break that train of thought. But I am extremely concerned because I don't think Clinton will pick up a majority of Obamas supporters and I am worried a majority will vote against the democrats to keep Hillery out. Where as Obama would get most of Clintons supporters.

[ibsteve2u]

"the exit polls show the real hidden bias may be gender"

Interesting. I am left wondering if those "exit polls" truly did ask a question designed to determine gender bias, such as "Is the reason you didn't vote for Hillary because she is a woman?" or "Did you vote for Obama because he is a man?"?

Or is this yet another case of sexist stereotyping by a female blogger to explain the lack of an overwhelming victory by HRC?

Why is it that if one of we "white males" looks at what Clinton says she stands for and compares it to what she has actually done and gets that shivery "Uh-oh, watch your back!" feeling of impending treachery, we're "biased"?

Would you call me "biased" for posting a sign that said "Warning! Rock Slides!" at the base of a hill because, after seeing the results of past rock slides, I was no longer willing to assume that Mother Nature wouldn't send more danger hurtling down at us?

[grendl]

I'm white and male.

I'm not racist, nor sexist. I've seen many people on the Huffington Post vilify me for the color of my skin and what's between my legs, attempting to draw some sort of negative correlation between myself and an establishment predominantly ruled by white males, and all I can say is that is a textbook example of hypocrisy.

It isn't like white males pulled some genetic strings to achieve their place in this society. We didn't know anyone, it's just a roll of the dice.

I don't apologize for the decimation of the American Indian, or the acts of General George Armstrong Custer, or the enslavement of Africans, the Holocaust or any other atrocity enacted upon a populace. I wasn't there.

We need to drop race as an issue in this campaign, and sex as well. The more we talk about Hillary being potentially the first woman president, or Barack the first black president, the more we buy into the idea of a presidential bid as a means of reparations, or affirmative action.

Hillary and Barack should both just come out and say, I don't want your vote because I'm a woman, or a black man, I want your vote because I'm the right person for the job. Whoever does that might earn the vote of that much despised creature known as the white male, and might potentially earn the keys to the White House.

[mhj555]

This white guy would not even think about becoming one of the McCainanites.
The old fossil needs to take his party the rest of the way to Whig status.

[DennyCrane]

So why is that whenever someone says they will vote for Hillary's rival, be it Obama or McCain should she win the Democratic nomination, it's always assumed they are voting against her because of her gender? Has it occurred to anyone that maybe they just don't like Hillary Clinton because she's Hillary Clinton? As an Obama supporter, I'll admit that a big reason I'm supporting him is that I despise Hillary Clinton. But not because she's a woman. I just can't support someone who voted for the war in Iraq and can't admit it was a mistake. I also see her as someone who will base her decisions on what's politically safe for her rather than principle. As much as I would love to see a woman president, I don't want it to be her.

[hopeless277]

Cheney will stage a terrorist attack. Bush will declare martial law. The Nat'l Gurard will be 'supplemented' by Blackwater and the elections will be 'postponed'. So see, it really doesn't matter who you support, none of them will ever get a chance to actully win the election. For the simple reason that there will be no election. Hide and watch.

[jvarga]

Ahhh this settles the issue for me. In another post I was wondering who I can vote for, since all of the enlightened thinkers here have stereotyped me based on my gender and race. I was torn between voting for Obama, who is a different race, or Clinton, who is a different gender.

But this whole time I hadn't even thought of voting republican. Probably because, while people are driving me away from the democratic party by their racism and sexism, I can't ever imagine identifying with the republican party. But hey, all of the enlightened individuals here keep saying that I won't vote for anything but a white man, so perhaps McCain really is the answer, right?

Racism and sexism: bad unless you're directing it towards a white man. Then it makes you insightful.

[SharonToji]

Yes, I'm getting quite tired of people who criticize women for voting for Hillary because they want a woman in the White House, but don't understand that many white men are voting for Obama merely because they can't stand the thought of a woman in the White House. In the voting booth, this is just as much a gender decision as a race decision or a youth decision. Male commentators are trashing Hillary and women are buying into it, and being made to feel they are doing something wrong if they want to elect a woman. If this woman (Clinton) were any less talented and able, it might be justified, but, with the candidates essentially equal on many issues, I feel no shame, at the age of 72, in voting for a woman.

Sharon Toji

[Oldtimer]

Hillary should be worried???
Democrats should be worried is what you
should be saying. It amazez me how everyone seems to have forgotten the knuckleheads who
occupy the White House now. What might Cheney
and Bush do to scare the living shit out of
the American people? McCain beats Obama or
Hillary if Cheney and Bush push the economy
aside by coordinating an international terror
scare perfectly timed for the election.
Think Cheney and Bush are not aware of this?
Think again. Think.

The general election is NOY a shoe-in.
Al Gore would have been a more full-proof
candidate.

[singermuse]

This country is still very backward with regard to political leaders.
Many countries have had Female leaders for years without the chaos predicted by some misogynists. (His, not Hers)story tells us that people here would rather have a man, any man before they'd accept a woman as "leader of the free world". Black men, at least on paper, got the vote before women did. Neither Obama nor Hillary will get the "white male" vote, no matter what some men may say in order to be "PC", they will vote their prejudices in the privacy of the voting booth or the absentee ballot.
The best strategy for either Hillary or Obama to win will be to play to their strengths, since white males are fast becoming the minority. In either case it's going to be a very close race against McCain if he wins the GOP nomination. And he probably will since "mittens" and "huck finn" are a bit behind. And then we must not forget all the shenanigans that took place in 2000 and 2004 with Black box voting, caging, "lost" ballots, "hanging chads" or in the case of yesterday, NO ballots (there were no green party ballots availble to members at many precincts). The roller coaster has just begun.

[bassnman]

Well here it is from the mouth of a conservative white male. If the election comes down to McCain vs Hillary...­I will stay home. My vote won't matter because the only difference is the d and the r after their name. Neither one of them should be president as both will greatly harm this country.

If the vote is McCain vs Obama... I will get out and vote for Obama. It's not that I agree with any of his politics but that I think he may actually be able to get both parties to work together for the common good of the people.