Is The US Ready For a Black President? | Voice of America - English
Democratic Party Senator Barack Obama is on track to become the first African-American major party nominee for president of the United States. Polls show Obama currently leading his rival, Republican Party Senator John McCain. If the polls are borne out on election day, Obama would become the nation's first black president. But surveys cannot determine whether, in the privacy of the voting booth, Americans will ultimately make a decision based on race.
In March, Barack Obama, the presumptive DemocraticParty nominee, spoke about his race and its possible impact on the presidentialelection. He was referring to the Democratic party primaries. "Despite the temptation to view my candidacythrough a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with someof the whitest populations in the country," Obama said. Barack Obama won millions of votes from whiteDemocrats during primary contests against Senator Hillary Clinton. But now heis in a national campaign against Republican Senator John McCain. He hopes towin states that are traditionally Republican, like Virginia and West Virginia. States like Pennsylvania that are traditionallyDemocratic but where white working class voters preferred Senator Clinton inthe primaries. Many voters in these states indicate race will be a factor comeNovember. West Virginia is a southern state with a large whiteworking class. Steve Miller owns a hotel andrestaurant in the town of Franklin. He says his community will not support Obama. "I don't think it is racist but they [West Virginians] are just not sure if they are ready for a black in office yetI think is the problem," Miller said. When Hillary Clinton defeated Obama in the WestVirginia primary, an ABC News and  poll found that for two in 10white voters, the candidate's skin color was a factor. Ed Tallman is editor of Franklin's newspaper. He sayshe knows why West Virginians have a problem with Obama. "When a black manhas political power, or when a black person has political power many small townWest Virginians seem to believe that his policies will favor blacks rather thanworking class whites," Tallman said. Jeff Bowman, 84, owns a hardwarestore there. He believes America is ready for a black president, but he alsofinds Obama lacking. "He doesn't have the experience," Bowman said. "Thatis more detrimental to him than the race." Vesla Weaver is a professor at the University of Virginia. She has doneextensive research on how voters react to candidates' skin color. "There is a strong pull of not looking raciallybiased of not appearing to make racially based decisions in this country,"Weaver said. "So when a voter is confronted with a black candidate and a whitecandidate there is an effect of wanting to not make a racially baseddecision." Pennsylvania, a northeastern state, also has a largewhite working class. With more than 8 million registered voters, the state iscrucial for Obama. Here too, Hillary Clinton defeated him in the Democraticprimary. Lillian Kepler, 80, from Lewistown,Pennsylvania says her problem with Obama is not related to race. "No, itisn't because he is black it is just that I do not think he has thequalifications that McCain has," Kelpler said. On college campuses, even in southern Republicanstates, Obama has been extremely popular with students. University of Virginia students Geoff Skelly andChris Blank say race will be a factor in the election, but not for them. "I think it is still going to be anissue for some people, I think it will be a very small percentage of thevoters, maybe enough to turn the election, hopefully not," Skelly said. "I sincerely feel that the peoplewho are not going to vote for him because he is an African American were nevergoing to vote for a Democrat anyway, " Blank added. VOA spoke to dozens of voters across thecountry. Most said America is ready toelect a black president. But political observers say gauging views on race canbe difficult, in part because many hide their feelings. They say voterssometimes are not even aware that race is influencing them.