It seems a metaphysical certitude a meaningful percentage of Americans in 2008 supported Barack Obama out of an historical sense to have elected the nation's first black president.
On MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews made a somewhat similar case for this upcoming election asking guests Chuck Todd of NBC News and Howard Fineman of the Huffington Post, "Is there going to be a reluctance on the part of the voters and the political community that talks politics as we get into November about dumping the first African-American president?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me ask you about something which is not in the polling, but I want you as experts – Barack Obama is the first African-American president, okay? Is there going to be a reluctance on the part of the voters and the political community that talks politics as we get into November about dumping the first African-American president? Is that going to be something that just ratchets people? "Wait a minute here. This guy’s going to knock out the first guy who ever got aboard.” Howard.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: My guess is it’s a wash. My guess is some voters may be reluctant for that reason. On the other hand, there are going to be some voters who are going to be grading him on a tougher, on a tougher scale.
MATTHEWS: Because he is black.
CHUCK TODD, NBC CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I had a Republican candidate, or a non-Republican candidate, a Republican who thought about running for president, decided not to. One of the reasons was, “I’m not going to be that guy.”
MATTHEWS: Don’t want to be the guy that removes him.
Number one, I'd love for Todd to disclose who this was as.
Number two, whatever happened to qualifications for the most powerful office in the land?
In 2008, America's media fell in love with the idea of the first black president and as such decided to completely ignore any vetting process of candidate Obama that would have given voters a sense as to whether the junior senator with the completely undistinguished legislative record was up to the task.
Now, four years later, the same folks might just possibly push the idea that despite his shortcomings and failures in his first term, Obama should be reelected because it would be somehow wrong for the first black president to get dumped.
Martin Luther King Jr. once dreamed of an America where his kids "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Does that mean absolutely nothing to liberal media members anymore?
