Notes: The Uppity Negro and Voting

So, break from Kant and Berry, but I will continue the post. So, I take a break and check feeds, and I read in email, on sites, and now on the tube that Republicans are claiming that Obama is going to try to buy the presidency. In fact, an RNC tweeker made the claim explicitly on MSNBC a few minutes ago.

I think all three candidates are for the birds, quite frankly. But I am absolutely amazed at folks willful ignorance about the racial and gender politics, never mind social class issues, we have been confronted with during this election cycle.

But Obama has collected much of his financing from small donations from individuals. I can only think that this is a sign of how many folks are supporting him and want him to win.

The RNC would like to posit: if a candidate has broad support from the public and raises much more money because of such support, then we are supposed to think that the candidate is buying the election.

But the Republicans aren't concerned about money and buying. The Republican party has often enjoyed extravagant wealth. What is really going on is that Obama has millions more than all the other candidates. And Obama can raise more.

I have heard and read nothing about substantive issues. I have heard pleas for votes. That's what the CLinton message is: "Every vote counts."

We have the idea that voting is important only when a candidate is losing the race. In other words, votes have value. This is a distortion of voting and the right to vote: using votes as a sign of a candidate's value regardless of support. Voting becomes a strategic race for the support of the majority on a local level. A state like Pennsylvania becomes split into various voter blocks that are worth less or more to a candidate. If a candidate organizes his or her campaign properly, the candidate can lose the majority but win the delegates regardless.

What is your vote worth?

In addition, why do we support discourse about Obama that links him to the stereotypical black man who has over-reached in order to succeed, the black man who has cheated. Like the RNC insists, he cannot win on merit; so, he'll use cash to buy the election.

It's a ridiculous claim. Shameful. A claim meant to realize the fear white voters have a Others: people who don't think or dress or play like them, etc. All this talk of race--like the ridiculous discussion about race at Howard--ignores the fact that we have ghetto-ized our society. We fail to realize that a potent white power structure still functions in the US. Obama is a good example: he is winning and he doesn't fit the bill and people are freaking out.

If the election for president comes down to Obama v McCain, watch out. We're going to have to deal with the Uppity Negro stereotype. Clinton has played this card softly in an insinuating manner. The RNC is now, as is expected, explicitly calling the black candidate Uppity. Knowing full well that the uppity tag will permit voters to ask the question: is Obama just a black man dressed up in white attire? Is he authentic?

That's all I hear when I hear and read about Obama. I am about sick of it.

McCain will certainly insinuate that he has experience and merit. It will be about the Patriarchy and he will patronize Obama. We'll get the, "Hey, he's a good guy with a great story, but I am the RIGHT guy for the job." And the right guy is a white guy. Each time.

And do not forget that McCain is a Reaganite. Reagan was distrustful of Civil Rights. He feared the poverty-stricken hordes. He was a fan of Hayek: in other words, no regulation. No unions. No social welfare programs. And a fan a might makes right policies.

Personally, I think all three candidates could care less about Labor. I am suspicious of all three. Nevertheless, I am much more suspicious of a society that only wishes to talk about money raised, money spent, taxes paid, etc. Why are we talking about money and voting as if one relates to the other.

Come on. What does it mean to vote?

And as many have already wondered: Where are the American Progressives? Each candidate is a conservative. Each is willing to compromise the Bill of Rights. Each is willing to permit state-sponsored murder. Each is a likely War Criminal.

So who can I vote for? What is my vote worth?

Anyway, off to a baseball game.