Hard to be Glad About This

I am having a hard time figuring out exactly how badly Obama got beat in West Virginia, but it looks like "severely" is accurate. I'm sure the talking heads are positing theories. "Voters with middle-American values." "Conservative blue-collar Democrats." Whatever. Here's the answer: racism. Appalachia is full of racism. I was born there, and I'm honest about it. Certain parts of the country just have not caught up with the civil rights movement. End of story.

I wonder if I can find results for the coal counties in the Kentucky primary. No, it's next week. But the polls for the entire state have Hillary up about 27 points. Does anyone seriously believe it's because people think Hillary is a better candidate? A bad Yankee carpetbagger lawyer who screwed up health care reform and then went on to be a professional housewife and then a lackluster junior Senator? No way. It's because she's white.

And it's happening in other areas, too. Canvassers are encountering some vile responses in northern states. Yankees always claim to be immune to racism. Tell that to the people who got their windows shot out in Chicago's Airport Homes development. Bring up that topic in a bar in South Boston or Little Italy. Obama is doing well as a candidate for nomination. He's winning over the far-left types who participate in primaries and caucuses. But in the general election, he'll have to deal with people who are more diverse. And my bet is, his race will cost him 20% of the votes a Democrat candidate would otherwise get.

Far-left kooks are very good about accepting minorities, although they are openly bigoted toward Israel, men, white people, conservatives, Jews, and Christians. Give them credit. Nominating a black candidate is genuinely "progressive," unlike the backward-looking policies to which liberals generally apply that oxymoronic label. But it's probably bad strategy. I think Obama is going to end up like Martin Luther King. Not dead, I hope and pray. I simply believe he will help open a door for other people, and that he himself will be unable to walk through it. I think he'll lose big in the general election, and Democrats will have to be satisfied with a moral victory. Which will be a first for them.

I don't like the idea of winning an election this way, but winning is winning, and it's not the right's fault that racist Democrats won't support their man, and Obama will be very bad for the country, so I guess I'll get over it. We're probably headed for a fairly good result. Republican in the White House; black man nominated by Democrats. Two things that are both blessings.

My father things black people will vote for McCain if Hillary steals the nomination. Could be. I would not blame them. Well, yes I would. You don't frag your nominee over something like that. I am highly critical of childish people who vote for the opposition out of spite. But I would certainly understand why black people would feel cheated.

One thing no one is mentioning: the possibility of riots. If Hillary cheats her way to the nomination, it's not unlikely that we'll see video of burning cars and broken windows. We're not supposed to talk about it, but unless the folks at the DNC are completely out of their minds, they're thinking about it. They're thinking about the difficulty of succeeding with a black candidate, they're thinking about ways to give Hillary the nomination, and they're considering the consequences.

My father also thinks putting Hillary in the VP slot would be good for the Democrats, but he feels--and I agree--that it would be career suicide for Obama. Put the Obamas and Clintons in the White House, and nobody will even notice the Obamas. The Democrats may get scared and insist on it, but it will cause them problems down the road. And supposedly, Michelle Obama refuses to tolerate a second queen bee. Thank goodness for female competitiveness.

The only thing I know for sure about Obama's running mate is that he or she will be white. And he'll probably be male.

Things could be worse. If McCain can survive "gook" video, he'll win the election. And hopefully he'll appoint sane judges. If that happens, only Congress will be a problem.

From a Christian perspective, let me point out that the Bible says God chooses our leaders. That doesn't mean all leaders are good. Sometimes it means we get bad leaders we deserve. So pray for revival and good leaders. That's my advice.