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Dark Clouds On America - Again: Obama
Assassination Threats Weigh On Voters |
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August 26, 2008 Denver, CO -- Contrary to
the widespread expectation that the nomination
of Barack Obama will intensify black-brown
tensions, many of the 12 Latinos gathered for
a focus group discussion here on Monday waxed
poetic at the thought of America electing
Obama to the presidency.
"The most exciting thing is that for the first
time in my lifetime I will see a black
President," declared Adrian Romero, a
35-year-old video editor who did not vote in
2004.
"What he brings to the table is that he
transcends being black," added Pamela Gamarra,
a 34-year-old senior data analyst in Boulder
said.
But, just as the enthusiasm for Obama gained
strength, Alex Moreno, a 36-year-old who runs
his own window washing business, raised an
issue that has emerged repeatedly in such
groups by whites, blacks, Hispanics, yuppies
and blue-collar workers:
"I am concerned about a black President being
assassinated, and having the Rodney King riots
in Los Angeles following us everywhere."
Peter Hart, the Democratic pollster overseeing
this focus group, sponsored by the Annenberg
Public Policy Center, said afterward that the
assassination issue has been raised in every
presidential focus group he has seen this
year.
Moreno's question brought the gathering to a
brief standstill as Obama supporters, the few
McCain backers, and those who are undecided
nodded in agreement.
After Moreno raised the assassination issue,
the tone of Obama supporters became less
optimistic, and the tone of McCain backers
became more harshly critical of Obama's
candidacy.
Dwayne Chavez, a 44-year-old former soldier
who works as a blood bank technician, is a
Republican who voted for Bush in 2004. Now, he
is leaning strongly toward Obama, but in the
aftermath of Moreno's remark, Chavez said:
"I don't think America is ready to have that
[racial] ceiling broken."
Mike Montoya, a 51-year-old online book
salesman, firmly committed to McCain and the
GOP, interjected with a complaint that the
Obama campaign has claimed racism "every time
there is something critical said about him...
If he is going to be President, he has to put
his blackness behind him."
In contrast to similar gatherings of white
voters at which sharp resentment of
undocumented immigrants often surfaces, these
Hispanic voters generally had a very different
view.
Montoya, the McCain supporter, said, "There
are some people [in this country] who won't
work for the minimum wage, and we need those
[undocumented] workers."
Pamela Hendricks, 44, who works in family
liaison for the public school system, noted
that the undocumented "are paying taxes, even
if they are paying on an illegal Social
Security number."
McCain's moderate stand appeared to have done
him some good among Latinos at the gathering
here, a number of whom were, however, angry at
the anti-immigrant views of many Republican
House and Senate members.
Romero, who intends to vote for Obama, said he
was impressed with McCain because he "did
acknowledge in one of his ads that immigrants
are the backbone of the workforce of this
country."
Chavez said, "I don't think people should be
penalized for coming in to work. People who
hire illegals should be punished, not people
who are looking for work." He added that
Republican animosity to immigrants "has made
it hard for me as a person with brown skin.
There are a lot of assumptions made about me."
The one angry view on the illegal immigration
issue was voiced by John Candelaria, 68,
retired from the Air Force, and a solid
anti-tax Republican:
"I'm totally, completely against the illegals
coming across... I'm a victim of the illegals.
In my area there have been seven foreclosures
[of homes purchased by undocumented
immigrants] who bailed out and went home. Now
the prices of all the homes went down, and I
can't get refinancing."
All but one of the participants in the focus
group appeared to be committed to either Obama
(8) or McCain (3), with the sole undecided
voter sounding as if she would back McCain.
If their votes turn out to be 8-4 in favor of
Obama, it would be a significant Democratic
gain over 2004, when George W. Bush won five
of the votes of the members of this group,
John Kerry six, and a single participant did
not vote that year. |
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