I don't doubt you, and I wasn't commenting on the role race plays in US cities - I was just asking firstly what the connection is between Hispanics not voting Republican because of Republican border policies and not voting for Obama, and secondly if you're implying that Hispanics wouldn't vote for Obama to express some kind of solidarity with Hispanic drug gangs, and finally if we have to imagine that Hispanics wouldn't vote for Obama because they think that'll affect their chances of getting housing (what are we supposed to imagine that they imagine Obama will do - enact racial quotas on accomodation in poor neighbourhoods?).

I see what you're saying about racial tensions but I don't think you've demonstrated the connections between those and voting in the primaries.

I guess another question is why this trouble in LA should affect voters' choices in South Carolina, say, or New Hampshire. If you're telling us that some Hispanic voters won't go for Obama because of a prejudice against blacks, that's hardly news; there are voters of all backgrounds who'll do that, just as there are voters of both genders who won't vote for Clinton because she's a woman.

(Presumably there are also voters out there who have an irrational dislike of old, white millionaires, but they've had slim pickings over the centuries.)

For years, the African American population had the distinction of being the largest minority group among the voters. They certainly yielded a lot of clout.

Supposedly the Mexican population is now the largest minority group. This concerns the African American leaders. They are afraid of losing their influence with the politicians.

Hi Gang:

If you want to see why Obama can't win more than 13 states in the primary election,get on your favorite search engine and look up the year 2000 census figures for both Blacks and Hispanics.

You'll see why Hillary can't lose the primary election.

Obama's best days are already behind him.

Bill Clinton's strategy to label Obama the "Black Candidate",though repugnant,will ensure victory for Hillary.

I'm afraid that Racism is still alive and well in the good old U.S.A.

hippolips

Didn't Obama win a majority of the "white" voters under 30 in South Carolina? Maybe the generation gap is more significant than the race gap.

"Didn't Obama win a majority of the "white" voters under 30 in South Carolina?"

Yes.

Vote by Race and Age

Non-Black 18-29 (5% of total voters)

Clinton - 27%

Edwards - 21%

Kucinich - 0%

Obama - 52%













http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#SCDEM

Great point, triple-n with nice info from DG. Obama, a charismatic candidate, seems particularly inspirational to the younger generation of voters. These voters may also be young enough that the Clinton name awareness isn't so strong.

Will younger voters get off their behinds and vote this year? That could change a few races.

quote:

Originally posted by coldfuse:

Will younger voters get off their behinds and vote this year? That could change a few races.

Voter apathy (certainly in Britain) is most marked in the young. The young divide into those students who are very intensely political and the great mass, students and non-students, who think that politics doesn't matter to them, or at all.(Sadly, the sick, mad, fringe are the ones who go on to become full time politicians )They think that whatever they do won't make any difference.

If Mr Obama can motivate them, then he has a big, hitherto untapped, resource. About 48 million Americans were aged 18-30 as of 2000, according to one site , which puzzlingly said that only 64 per cent of them were eligible to vote. (What are the others? Felons barred by law? Surely that can't account for 36 per cent)The site said that these represented 24 per cent of the eligible electorate .[Sorry, I can't get it to load. It was youthvote.org, which seems to be defunct]

Now that Edward Kennedy has endorsed Obama, won't that encourage the Hispanics to votre for him?

Ted Kennedy's endorsement could help in the comparison to JFK department, but it could also cost him some moderate votes by emphasizing his far left leanings and, I think, might make him seem lacking experience.

quote:

Originally posted by FredPuli:
which puzzlingly said that only 64 per cent of them were eligible to vote.

I wonder if part of those who are ineligible simply haven't registered to vote. Now that would constitute voter apathy!