Click to play videoSenator Barack Obama has already created history as the first black presidential candidate of major political party in the US.
Obama met Hillary Clinton, his former rival to get the Democrat party’s nomination for the presidential election, to possibly offer her a vice presidential spot.
Obama may need Clinton’s support, given her drawing power with white women and older voters. Experts though say its white men, and not white women, who are a problem for the Democrats. As many as 62 per cent white men voted for George W Bush in 2004.
Obama may have clinched the Democratic nomination but his race is far from over. The quest to win over white working class voters who backed Clinton overwhelmingly during the bitter nomination battle is going to be a major challenge. Obama will have to win over at least eight swing states—where Clinton won—if he wants to be the US President.
Obama’s youth, charisma and concern for the underprivileged have earned him fans in the US and all across the world. But do these qualities make his race immaterial? Is America ready for a black President?
CNN-IBN’s Senior Editor Sagarika Ghose asked this to Mark Preston, political editor of CNN, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, senior editor of Hindustan Times, and CNN correspondent Sara Sidner.
“Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now,” Obama said in one of his first campaign speeches. But race is not the biggest issue in America right now.
“The economy is the biggest issue in America right now. People are concerned about gas prices, healthcare and unemployment. The (presidential) race will be won on who can fix the economy,” said Sidner.
Preston said Clinton could help Obama in two ways: by getting him the support of women over 30 and by uniting the Democratic Party.
And what if Obama selects Clinton as his Vice-Presidential nominee? Won’t they make a dream team?
Chaudhuri was skeptical. “Vice-Presidential candidates don’t have that much influence as people think they do. They normally swing one state, usually their home state, and that is about it. The Obama and Clinton teams are incompatible and it’s better for him to have a candidate who is close to him,” he said.
Sidner said the focus in America is getting the country back on track. “When you don’t have enough money, when you don’t have a job and feel the country is going in the wrong direction, which is what people are saying about the current presidency, then it boils down to getting the country back on track. Whoever can do that or offer hope of that happening will get the presidency.”
Race matters but it’s the main issue, said Preston. “Race is an underlying theme but the main issues are gas prices, healthcare—the economy is the Number 1 issue right now and after that Iraq. A majority of Americans are going to look and say who will be the right person to lead the country in the next four years.”
SMS poll on: Is America ready for a black President? Yes: 74 per cent, No: 26 per cent.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.