Word: racial
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This is where we are right now," Obama said. "It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some...
...about his campaign, and his race against Hillary Clinton, for days and perhaps weeks to come. He and his advisers no doubt calculated that nothing they could do would change that fact. But if one of the appeals of Obama's candidacy has been the promise of a post-racial politics, how will voters respond to a speech acknowledging that the future is not now, that race still divides...
...move forward or fall backward, either we let the economy falter or we help it grow, either we succumb to our enemies or we defeat them - the choice is up to you, America! Obama's either/or formulation is not nearly so banal. Explicitly asking Americans to grapple with racial divisions, and then transcend them - that's a bold request. Will they comply? Obama's presidential hopes depend...
...indisputable that this was a serious speech about the incendiary topic of race in America. Obama was performing his high-wire act, trying to appear black enough for the African-American community and post-racial enough for white voters. That's as tough a task as exists in American politics, and one speech alone will never accomplish it. But if he is to win the nomination and the general election, he has to engage voters in this dialogue, and the sooner the better. He's started down that road, and he has to continue. Whether he likes...
...From Obama's perspective, it's much better to have this discussion now. In fact, the debate about race was inevitable at some point. I would argue that race isn't just another issue; it is THE issue of American history. He actually needs to have the racial debate continue until it exhausts the media and the electorate as a whole. If he has to confront racial division in October in a major way, he will lose the election. By October, he needs to have the media and voters say, "We've already finished with this subject. What about Iraq...