The Obamas Are Tired Of the Blackness Question

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

ENOUGH

The Obamas Are Tired Of the Blackness Question

In case it wasn't clear enough the first time, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife, Michelle, have each said repeatedly -- and increasingly forcefully -- in recent days that they're fed up with the "black enough" debate.

Their offensive against questions about the biracial Obama's appeal to African American voters began this month, when Michelle Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times that she was frustrated by the notion that her husband -- the son of a white mother and Kenyan father -- was somehow not authentically connected to the American black experience and that "we are still struggling as a people with what is black."

Her husband chimed in Friday in Las Vegas when Obama told the National Association of Black Journalists that "I think in part we're still locked in this notion if you appeal to white folks, there must be something wrong." A day earlier, the group had dedicated a workshop at its annual convention to debating the issue.

On Sunday, Michelle Obama weighed in with her strongest comments yet, calling on everyone to "stop that nonsense" in asking if he is "black enough" to appeal to African American voters.

"We are messing with the heads of our children," by raising the question, she told a group of women, most of them black, at a fundraiser in Chicago's predominantly black South Side.

Obama campaign aides said that the couple saw these forums, particularly Barack Obama's speech to journalists, as a way to move past the issue. "They are responding to the general dialogue," said Candice Tolliver, an Obama spokeswoman. "The senator thought it was a chance to put it to rest."

But campaign aides didn't cite a specific example of the criticism they hoped to put to rest, noting instead that reporters have questioned both Obamas on the issue.

When Obama entered the race, some commentators, most pointedly writer Debra Dickerson, questioned whether Obama's unique history and background made him so unlike most African Americans that he would not be the first black president. Obama's campaign has sought to appeal to black voters -- a key group in the Democratic primary electorate -- while also presenting him as a new generation of black leader.

"I can't think of any black intellectual or political or community leader of much substance who has questioned his blackness," said David Bositis, who studies the role of African Americans in politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington.

Ron Walters, a professor at the University of Maryland, wrote in a journal article that Obama's discussion of his upbringing in Hawaii and his comments on rising above racial problems may not be reassuring to blacks. "He ought to take it more seriously," Walters said of how Obama is appealing to blacks. At the same time, Walters said, "as far as I'm personally concerned, he's black enough for me."

-- Perry Bacon Jr.

SNOWMAN SAYS CHILL OUT

Romney Criticizes Debate Format, Draws Reaction From YouTube Star

Billiam the Snowman -- the star of the Democratic CNN-YouTube last month and who was created by two brothers in Minneapolis -- has a message for Mitt Romney:

"Lighten up slightly," the snowman tells the former Massachusetts governor in a YouTube video, a riff on a Romney quote from the campaign.

Romney, who won Saturday's Iowa straw poll, was the lone GOP holdout when CNN announced Nov. 28 as the new date for CNN-YouTube Republican debate yesterday, an event where candidates will field questions directly from voters -- or directly from voter-produced videos.

Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube, said that more than 1,100 videos have been submitted, and the popular video-sharing site will allow its users to upload their videos until Nov. 27. Some of the questions already submitted to the GOP candidates include a 21-year-old asking the thrice-married Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, if he really has the character for the presidency, and a 26-year-old Mormon asking Romney, also a Mormon, to explain his changing views on abortion.

But Romney, who has criticized the format and said that "the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," has yet to commit to the debate. Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman, said in an interview yesterday, "The proposed date is still well over three months away, so we haven't yet finalized any schedule plans that far in advance."

-- Jose Antonio Vargas

SMALL INVESTMENT, BIG RETURN

With 'Few Resources,' Huckabee Happy With 2nd in Iowa Straw Poll

Relishing his second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee noted that he managed to snare 18 percent of the vote despite investing much less in the event than his top rivals. "It wasn't just that we surprised people with a second showing, it's that we did it with so few resources," he said. "This really was feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves."

Actually, crumbs might have been more like it, considering how huge the disparity is between the coffers of Huckabee and of the poll's winner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who collected 32 percent of the vote.

Huckabee says he spent a little more than $100,000 on the event, while rival campaigns estimate that Romney spent more than $2 million preparing for the straw poll, not including more than $2 million in television ads that he has purchased in Iowa. Nationally, campaign finance filings that the two candidates have made through June 30 show that Romney spent $32 million to Huckabee's $853,000. Romney listed about 180 people on staff during the first half of the year, for a total of $5.5 million in salaries over that time, exactly 10 times as many bodies as Huckabee's 18 staffers, who earned a total of $234,000.

And Romney has lived much larger on the social scene, spending $1.8 million on fundraisers and other events, including $16,000 in tickets at several ballparks around the country. That easily surpasses Huckabee's total events spending of $58,000 for the period.

Of course, if Huckabee's second-place finish in Ames gives him a much-needed boost in fundraising, he may want to celebrate. Perhaps he could even take his staff to a ballgame or two.

-- Alec MacGillis