Obama: 'Raw racism and hostility'
Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:07 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2008, Obama
The Washington Post takes a look at some instances of prejudice that Obama's campaign staffers have run into. "For all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.”
“The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight."
Obama used Jim Webb's GI bill to hit McCain yesterday. "The proposed 21st Century GI Bill would allow soldiers to receive free tuition for college. Obama said it is one of a number of upgrades to GI benefits and healthcare the federal government should provide… The Illinois Democrat said McCain, whom he added he greatly respects as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, doesn't like the new plan. ‘He is one of the few senators of either party who oppose this bill because he thinks it's too generous,’ Obama said. ‘I couldn't disagree more.’”
More from Obama: “‘At a time when the skyrocketing cost of tuition is pricing thousands of Americans out of a college education, we should be doing everything we can to give the men and women who have risked their lives for this country the chance to pursue the American dream.’”
The New York Times writes about Obama's attempts to fix his so-called Jewish problem. "Jewish voters make up a small but important constituency in several states rich in electoral votes, like California, Florida, New York and Mr. Obama’s home state, Illinois. When Mr. Goldberg, of The Atlantic, suggested to Mr. Obama that ‘there seems to be in some quarters, in Florida and other places, a sense that you don’t feel Jewish worry the way a senator from New York would feel it,’ Mr. Obama expressed puzzlement at that perception, saying that in the black community in Chicago he had been accused of being ‘too close to the Jews.’ ‘I’ve been in the foxhole with my Jewish friends,’ Mr. Obama said, ‘so when I find on the national level my commitment being questioned, it’s curious.’”
