The Race Race, Slugfest and Other Unmentionables - The Road to the White House - Election 2012 - Week 28

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 15 July 2012 00:00

Written by Janet Walker

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The Race gauntlet was officially thrown down as the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, set the tone as they booed Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, during his recent speech in Houston.

The surprise reaction came as Romney maintained his position on repealing Obamacare, the President’s signature piece of Healthcare reform, and his attempts to present his plan to take the country back for every American regardless of race or ethnicity.

According to Gallup, as of July15, 2012 among registered voters President Obama’s national popularity dropped a single percentage point this week to 46% and Mitt Romney’s national popularity rose two percentage points to 46%.

Obama’s current overall ratings, according to Gallup, dropped two percentage points over the past week to 45% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness continued to climb rising a single percentage point to 48%.

Race as Gallup points out still plays a predominate role in approval rating among registered voters, with opinions divided sharply across racial lines as 67% of nonwhites, 87% of African Americans give Obama high marks on his overall job success. Hispanics come in with 52% approve and only 37% of Whites agree with his effectives as President.

Civil Rights is a unified cause, which crosses all racial, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation  boundaries, and while The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is the oldest collective organization in the country, the cause the civil rights of all is not limited to skin tone.

All annually honor Martin Luther King, Jr., remembering his cause, which became our cause, his fight, which crossed racial lines and became a unified fight, his historic “I Have A Dream” Speech that resonates now, almost fifty years later, all owe our leaders at least the courtesy of listening; If we don’t we become those who wouldn’t listen, who refused to hear, who silenced the possibility of change.

As the campaigns transition to the general election, Religion will also be a hot button issue with residue and rumor still dogging President Obama on his alleged Muslim and Nation of Islam beliefs and his factual affiliation with Jeremiah L. Wright, pastor at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Mitt Romney doesn’t fare any better as his singular stated religious beliefs are Mormon, a faith he has maintained and practiced his entire life. Both men, for the record, publically state a belief in Christianity and the principals of Christ.

As stated in Week 27, Religion is another hot button issue and does concern many voters, and many more than the Religious Right especially with the passage and probable passage of Gay Rights and Same Sex Marriage laws. Voters in many states would prefer referendums which allow the voters of the state to decide which laws are enacted in their state. 

Election 2012, Romney v Obama is shaping up to be an epic battle, with all the hype of a Las Vegas Main Event, a Slugfest with the gloves off, solid landing punches that will expose hidden weaknesses and bring one candidate down for the count.

The Republican National Convention, where delegates will be officially conferred to the candidates and where Mitt Romney will be the designated the Republican Presidential Nominee will take place in Tampa Bay, Florida, August 27-30, 2012.

The Democratic National Convention will take place in Charlotte North Carolina, September 3 -6, 2012.

To access the Republican Official Convention site: www.gopconvention2012.com/

To access the Democratic Official Convention site: www.demconvention.com/