http://www.theage.com.au/us-election-2008/skinny-black-guy-whos-making-american-history-20080604-2lv7.html
'Skinny black guy' who's making American history It's time: Supporters in St Paul, Minnesota. Photo: Scott Olson a.. Anne Davies b.. June 5, 2008 BARACK Obama has already made history as the first black American to become his party's presumptive nominee for president in the 230-year history of the US. That is reason enough for America to celebrate. In this one personal success story, America can tentatively claim it has moved beyond its shameful past of slavery and racism and has concrete proof of racial equality. The "skinny black guy from the south side of Chicago" as Obama likes to call himself, embodies what many Americans want for their country: he's a successful bi-racial man, who walks with ease in black and white communities. He's a man who values faith and family and who is a genuinely good guy, according to those who know him well. Born to a single white mother from Kansas, after his father, a Kenyan, left first for Harvard and then back to Kenya, Obama's life is an embodiment of the American dream. He was raised by his grandparents in Hawaii; he got entry into a good school because he was bright; he did well at university and was accepted to study law at Harvard. As a community organiser he settled in Chicago and soon became involved in politics; with meteoric speed, he became first an Illinois senator in 1995 and then a US senator in 2004. But he has so far taken only the first step to becoming president of the US. In coming months, the challenge for Obama is to prove that Americans of all persuasions will judge a person by their policies and not by their skin colour. In the past few weeks, his rival Hillary Clinton, has been quick to point out over and over that it is she, not him, who has won the important and predominantly white working-class states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Hampshire and now South Dakota. The first two are states that a Democrat nominee must wrest from the Republicans to win office. The others would help. Like it or not, the exit polls keep confirming that white, non-college-educated Americans have deep reservations about Obama. More worryingly, when Clinton voters were asked who they would vote for if she is not the nominee, as few as 45% in some states said they would switch to Obama. The rest said they would either not vote, or vote Republican. Of course, that number was probably inflated by the heat in the primary contest but it is now important for Clinton to let go of her quest and begin campaigning for him. There have been claims that Obama can redraw the electoral map and win states that have not been on the Democratic side of the slate for decades: Georgia, Virginia and even Alabama. There's no doubt he has galvanised young people and African Americans to participate in the electoral process in unprecedented numbers. But most pollsters are sceptical that their additional numbers will outweigh the conservative religious vote that forms the backbone of Republican support in the South. Perhaps when confronted with the stark choice of a Republican who supports continuing the Iraq War, private sector solutions to America's health care cost crisis, and continued tax cuts for the wealthy, then Obama will look more attractive to lower-income, working-class voters whose economic interests are almost certain to be better served by a Democratic agenda. There are signs in the recent Gallup poll that Obama is making headway against John McCain now that he has begun contrasting himself with the Republican's presumptive nominee. The last match-up poll had him beating McCain nationally. Nonetheless, Obama is vulnerable, and in his victory speech on Tuesday he made reference to the sort of attacks he may well face in coming months from the Republican Party and right-wing campaigning groups such as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which in 2004 successfully used a false advertisement to torpedo the Democrat's presidential candidate John Kerry's record as a war hero. For Obama the risk is dogwhistle politics that attempt to highlight his exotic heritage in various ways. The debate about why he doesn't wear a flag pin or rumours that he took the oath of office on the Koran when he was sworn in to the US Senate are cases in point. "What you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear and innuendo and division," he said on Tuesday night. "What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon - that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonise," he said. The second half of the presidential campaign is going to be much more robust, and it will be instructive to see if Obama can stick by his own principle of rising above bitter and divisive partisan politics
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