Maybe it’s still because I (and others) are still in the moment, but this could be a huge pivot point that I don’t think is fully sinking in for the punditry in America. Iowa caucus goers may have awakened a sleeping giant in our culture. Finally.
Rev. Jesse Jackson took note that “this is the 40th year since the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Tonight he would proud of Barack, proud of Iowa and proud of America.”
Democratic consultant Jamal Simmons said Obama’s victory “proves that America is changing when it comes to race and politics.”
“Winning in Iowa is not winning the nomination, but is very significant,” Simmons said. “Tonight Barack Obama has made it more true that every black child in America can do whatever they want to if they work hard for it — really.”
It happened… in Iowa.
UPDATE: To add some detail to this thought I should note that I have a very close friend who is from rural Iowa. Up until the age of about 18-19 she had never left the Iowa/Minnesota region and had never interacted with a black person (only one went to her high school and they didn’t travel in the same circles). I happened to be the first black person she spoke to and soon after we were roommates along with another friend of ours. Before today I was supremely skeptical that that part of the world would have given a black candidate the time of day, let alone vote decisively for one. In fact, the county she’s from voted 39-31-29 for Obama.
I heard he got a lot of Republican votes, too. Legitimate or just trying to fuck things up?
OW, I solved my problem by signing up for fourth time using different email and user name.
Boy it is so surprising that race isn’t such a big deal after all. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.) Can we now expect people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to fade into a well deserved obscurity?
Oliver, do you think its possible that you drank a little bit too much of the “there is a racist under every rock in America” kool-aid, and that is why you find Obama’s win so surprising?