Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?.....think about it.
Would the country's collective point of view be different?
Ponder the following:
What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?
What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?
What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to painkillers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker, and Obama couldn't read correctly from a teleprompter?
What if Obama was the one with a history of public display, on many occasions, of a serious anger management problem?
What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?
You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference. Neither is perfect but color shouldn't be a factor.
Educational Background:
Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude ("With Great Honor")
Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Education may not be everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. Think about it!
1 week ago
8 comments:
Wow. No, I hadn't thought about it, but I'm glad you did!
I just watched the Frontline special on the two candidates lives last night and they really glossed over McCain's divorce; they mentioned it, but not the fact that he also had an affair. I was thinking about it this morning and reasoning that no one knows what kind of mental state one is in when one returns from captivity and I tried to understand his behavior. I wonder, too, if that same understanding would be extended to Obama (not by me, but others) if he'd done the same.
Loved the post!
Huh. I hadn't seen the education information compared side by side. Definitely food for thought.
If that were the case both Barack and Michelle would be in jail (for Keating Five and painkiller theft, respectively).
I don't normally talk politics, but I do think experience does count for a lot (I mean John McCain not Sarah Palin). I have a few collegiate degrees from very good schools, but I don't think that defines me. My experience after building on those degrees defines me. I appreciate the stats though. I won't ever divulge who will get my vote in November, but I am not voting for McCain. He was a senator in AZ for as long as I lived there. In my opinion, he did nothing for that state.
Bit worried though - I bike around my neighborhood in FL, and I see mostly McCain signs.
Jeanne R
Yeah! What if? It's amazing how we are ridiculing a good education. How we are embracing teen pregnancy. All who spins it.
Nice! So true. I've thought about this, but you put it very blatantly here. Such an amazing country. Sigh.
all of you should be reading racialicious, they do a lot of posts about race & the election (duh), including a good angry one about the whole unwed daughter thing, and also some amazing stuff like people who are going door to door and talking to people about race if it seems like that is affecting their vote.
great post. and write on about one of the affects of racism.
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