barack obama

Have you heard those rumors of/statements from people (often white women, like me, except I haven't said this and it makes my mind boggle) saying that they'd vote for McCain over Obama because of the sexism Hillary Clinton had to deal with during the campaign?

Well, Tim Wise, perhaps the most prominent white male antiracist writer around, certainly has. And he's calling them out bigtime in an essay called "Your Whiteness Is Showing."

How is it that you have managed to hold your nose all these years, just like a lot of us on the left, and vote for Democrats who we knew were horribly inadequate--Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, right on down the uninspiring line--and yet, apparently can't bring yourself to vote for Barack Obama? A man who, for all of his shortcomings (and there are several, as with all candidates put up by either of the two major corporate parties) is surely more progressive than any of those just mentioned. And how are we to understand that refusal--this sudden line in the proverbial sand--other than as a racist slap at a black man? You will vote for white men year after year after year--and are threatening to vote for another one just to make a point--but can't bring yourself to vote for a black man, whose political views come much closer to your own, in all likelihood, than do the views of any of the white men you've supported before. How, other than as an act of racism, or perhaps as evidence of political insanity, is one to interpret such a thing?

His last graf is a doozy:

You are now left with two, and only two choices, so consider them carefully: the first is to stand now in solidarity with your black brothers and sisters and welcome the new day, and help to push it in a truly progressive and feminist and antiracist direction, while the second is to team up with white men to try and block the new day from dawning. Feel free to choose the latter. But if you do, please don't insult your own intelligence, or ours, by insisting that you've done so as a radical political act.

Not that Obama is perfect, as he says. And some of Wise's hostility surely won't be taken well by women who have been watching the media pundit hostility toward Hillary Clinton and who are disappointed by the results of the primaries — do white women need another white guy telling them what to think?

But here is an analysis by Salamishah Tillet (from TheRoot.com) called "Obama and the 'Woman Question'" with the subhead With Clinton finally out of the race, Obama needs to tackle issues of gender equality in the same way he has talked about the nation's racial divide in Philadelphia, if he wants to win in November.

It is a huge slap in the face of all women, regardless of race, not to have had a viable female candidate for president until now. Women make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population and outnumber men among voters, so it makes no sense that we are so under-represented in the nation's elective offices.

So, how underrepresented are women?

Today, 16 out of the 100 U.S. senators are women and 74 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives are held by women. Seventy four women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country, 23.5 percent of the 315 available positions. In terms of ethnic diversity, 20 of the 87 female members of Congress, or 23 percent, are women of color. The statistics are much worse in elected state executive positions; only four, less than 6 percent, of the 74 are women of color.

(I'm noticing some weird stats there that make me want to fact-check that graf. How does 74=87? Or how would 74+16=87? Halp.)

How can Obama overcome the concerns some white women may have about how much he benefitted from sexism?

Much like his speech on race, I would like Obama to talk about gender and gender inequity as fundamental tenets of his campaign. He needs to spotlight his Equal Pay Act, speak more fervently about gender hate crimes and his commitment to boosting the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women, and he should continue to reach out to second and third wave feminists of all colors.

Good ideas. Betting there are more out there, aside from pointing out that white privilege thingy Wise so, er, furiously delineates.

Please discuss.

Sen. Ron Wyden is the last of Oregon's superdelegates to declare for a candidate. Many election-watchers expected Sen. Wyden to come out for Sen. Hillary Clinton because Wyden's chief of staff, Josh Kardon, chaired Sen. Clinton's Oregon campaign.

Today Sen. Wyden joined what is being called an "avalanche" of superdelegates declaring for Obama.

Wyden announced in his statement:

"When voters in Oregon and around the country hear the word “superdelegate,” people start hissing. I never asked to be a superdelegate, and always thought it preposterous that my vote would be accorded greater weight than the vote of the very people who make my public service possible.

I would gladly have worked hard to elect either Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton, but fortunately, the nation’s choice has been made, as it should have been, not by the superdelegates, but by the grassroots voters. The voters of Oregon certainly spoke clearly on the subject, and my vote will enthusiastically reflect their decision to nominate Senator Obama."

In Oregon, Sen. Obama has 10 superdelegates to Sen. Clinton's two.

Barack Obama

Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Sec. of State Bill Bradbury
Rep. Peter DeFazio
Frank Dixon (DNC)
Jenny Geenleaf (DNC)
Wayne Kinney(DNC)
Gail Rasmussen (DNC)
Meredith Woods-Smith (DNC)
Rep. David Wu
Sen. Ron Wyden

Hillary Clinton

Rep. Darlene Hooley
Gov. Ted Kulongoski

More photos to come when I finish sorting them all. I thought I should at least throw this one up now. Ernie said he's trying to get Barry to come back for the next Ducks vs. Beavers game (now that Obama's brother-in-law is the head coach of Oregon State's basketball team.)

UPDATE: More photos after the jump or or click on any image to see the complete gallery from Friday's rally at the UO.

Listen/download audio of Obama's speech.

It took us a minute to realize why it was so empty everywhere. The Safeway parking lot, the streets, Brails ... oh, wait! Everyone must be on campus. Right? We thought about biking down there, but that would have meant forgoing our delicious containers of leftovers (bi bim bob for him, pork bulgogi for me), and that simply wasn't an option. We'd wolfed down all the side dishes — how I love small pickled/fermented things — but each Brails entrée was definitely enough for two meals. And they serve beer and wine with dinner! As if you needed more reasons to eat there. (Though the mellow evening hours are quite a change from the long lines on weekends — not that lines will ever keep me away from a plate of hash browns and bacon.)

It's quiet in Eugene tonight. At least so far. At least around Willamette Street. I hear the Lakers game is good. How was Obama? Report in, folks!

Eugene is Obama country, judging by federal campaign contribution data.

Barack Obama has raised about four times more money here from about four times more contributions. Through the end of March, Obama reported raising $114,622 from 955 donations from Eugene. Hillary Clinton raised $29,111 in donations from 224 contributions from Eugene.

Obama’s contributions averaged $120. Clinton’s averaged $224.

Nearly a third of Clinton’s contributions came from donors identifying themselves as retired. Obama reported 17 percent of his donors were retired.

Some retirees may list themselves as not employed. About a quarter of Obama’s contributors listed themselves as retired or not employed, while half of Clinton’s contributors listed themselves as retired or not employed.

Only 2 percent of Clinton’s donors identified their employer as the University of Oregon. About 11 percent of Obama’s money came from professors and other UO employees.

About 5 percent of Clinton’s Eugene donations listed employment as mom or homemaker. Only one Obama donor listed themselves that way.