My answer to the above question is that it really does. Well, this is so if the reactions and comments of an American citizen on BBC, sometime this week, are anything to go by.
He said that Americans are not foolish and are, therefore, not going to elect a black man as their president. “Etiquette alone dictates that we don’t allow a black man to move into a house which is itself called the White House,” He said, quite forcefully.
He distastefully went on to say: “If Barack Obama had a White wife, Americans would have tolerated him. But there is no way Americans will have a black woman masquerading in their White House!”
If this one American (white American, I presume) voices the prejudices of millions others out there, then Barack should brace himself for “an extremely tight and asphyxiating” fight for the White House.
But Barack sounded his answer to anyone who might try to use such tactics (such as using his “skin colour” to sway the voters) when he made his exemplary speech during the Democratic National Convention.
He said:
“If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.”
My two cents: Please guys, look not at the colour of the skin but at the content of character (among so many other things – competence, effective promise-delivering strategies etc).
Check out some Snapshots of Michelle Obama’s Speech this Week.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Something is Bugging Me Big Time
There is something that is really bugging me and I am afraid I cannot keep quiet any more. I just have to speak it out. Dear friends and countrymen kindly bear with me because I will explode if I don’t speak out my heart now.
In the last general elections I had the privilege of casting my vote and I am proud to say that I did not make any of my mistakes of the past of voting along tribal lines. We had “one of our own” (Kalonzo Musyoka) standing and I simply ignored him and voted for the candidate that I thought was best suited for the job at the time. And he was certainly NOT from my tribe. I proudly voted Raila Odinga for president. When it came to MP I had no problem either. I will admit here and now that I am gender biased, given the choice of a man or woman, I tend always to lean on the side of the woman. And with good reason from my own life experiences. When it comes to entrusting responsibility on somebody whom I need to trust, I have hardly ever been let down by women. In my humble view women are the real unsung heroines of the resilient Kenyan economy. So for MP I proudly voted a woman called Wavinya Ndeti and everybody I met I convinced to vote in the same way. Well she won and I know our constituency shall never be the same again.
Now that was 2007. We all know that every election is different. From my many years analyzing politics one thing I can tell you with certainty is that the elections in 2012 will be very different with very different faces.
But “my beef” is with my good friends in ODM. It is widely believed that ODM is the most democratic party in the country. Really? I am sorry but I am really beginning to doubt that.
If ODMers were truly democratic, then why is it that my good friends who support the party get very annoyed, nay extremely upset every time somebody dares to float another name as a possible presidential candidate other than the name of the son of Jaramogi Odinga?
In my humble view where the country has reached now, we need a clean fresh start from a new generation of Kenyan leaders preferably somebody who is NOT in the political class this minute.
Don’t get me wrong. I am convinced beyond any doubt that Raila Odinga won the last presidential elections but to be honest despite the good work he has done thus far, I would advice him not to present himself as a candidate for the presidency in 2012. There are many reasons for this but top on the list is for the sake of national healing and reconciliation. Secondly a man who appoints the likes of William Ole Ntimama into his cabinet is surely a presidential candidate whose time is now past.
But of course I realize it is the captain’s democratic right to decide if he is going to stand or not. But surely can his supporters please give us a break while we discuss the future of the country? Can they bear to think of a future that does not have Raila Odinga in State House? Or is the new slogan now: No Raila, no discussion of any other presidential candidate?
Let the barbs come flying now but remember that I too have a democratic right to my own personal view and opinion.
In the last general elections I had the privilege of casting my vote and I am proud to say that I did not make any of my mistakes of the past of voting along tribal lines. We had “one of our own” (Kalonzo Musyoka) standing and I simply ignored him and voted for the candidate that I thought was best suited for the job at the time. And he was certainly NOT from my tribe. I proudly voted Raila Odinga for president. When it came to MP I had no problem either. I will admit here and now that I am gender biased, given the choice of a man or woman, I tend always to lean on the side of the woman. And with good reason from my own life experiences. When it comes to entrusting responsibility on somebody whom I need to trust, I have hardly ever been let down by women. In my humble view women are the real unsung heroines of the resilient Kenyan economy. So for MP I proudly voted a woman called Wavinya Ndeti and everybody I met I convinced to vote in the same way. Well she won and I know our constituency shall never be the same again.
Now that was 2007. We all know that every election is different. From my many years analyzing politics one thing I can tell you with certainty is that the elections in 2012 will be very different with very different faces.
But “my beef” is with my good friends in ODM. It is widely believed that ODM is the most democratic party in the country. Really? I am sorry but I am really beginning to doubt that.
If ODMers were truly democratic, then why is it that my good friends who support the party get very annoyed, nay extremely upset every time somebody dares to float another name as a possible presidential candidate other than the name of the son of Jaramogi Odinga?
In my humble view where the country has reached now, we need a clean fresh start from a new generation of Kenyan leaders preferably somebody who is NOT in the political class this minute.
Don’t get me wrong. I am convinced beyond any doubt that Raila Odinga won the last presidential elections but to be honest despite the good work he has done thus far, I would advice him not to present himself as a candidate for the presidency in 2012. There are many reasons for this but top on the list is for the sake of national healing and reconciliation. Secondly a man who appoints the likes of William Ole Ntimama into his cabinet is surely a presidential candidate whose time is now past.
But of course I realize it is the captain’s democratic right to decide if he is going to stand or not. But surely can his supporters please give us a break while we discuss the future of the country? Can they bear to think of a future that does not have Raila Odinga in State House? Or is the new slogan now: No Raila, no discussion of any other presidential candidate?
Let the barbs come flying now but remember that I too have a democratic right to my own personal view and opinion.
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