Why Did Obama Ever Win in the First Place?
Southern voters answer the question they find hardest to understand.
Red states don’t get redder than Mississippi and Alabama. The Obama-Biden ticket lost the first state by 13 points, the latter by 21 points. (They would have been even bigger losses but for a surge of African-American voters who turned out for Democrats.) Most voters here never believed in Barack Obama, and could never understand why their countrymen did.
So, on my trip to Mississippi and Alabama, I asked, “Why do you think Obama won in the first place?”
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David Weigel.
Camille and Haley Harris, singer/
songwriters of the Santorum theme “Game On,” Montgomery, Ala. Santorum.Camille: “People like to switch parties. They thought it would be cool to switch over this time, and they wanted to make history with Obama.”
Haley: “But they would have made history if they voted for the other side! First female vice president.”
Camille: “I liked Palin a lot.”
Haley: “I thought Palin was cool. Of course, we’re conservatives.” -
David Weigel.
Bryan Northcutt, independent contractor, Montgomery, Ala. Santorum.
“The Obama campaign catered to people who didn’t know what to believe. They took social media, and leveraged it, and won the election that way. They took the American Idol concept and ran a campaign on it. I mean, it’s astounding that people couldn’t figure out what he believed when he was running. Now he’s in there, and people are shocked? I’m shocked that they’re shocked.”
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David Weigel.
Le’ Westmoreland, radiology tech student, Helena, Ala. Undecided.
“He won due to the color of his skin, without a doubt. A lot of people voted depending on their race, which I don’t think is right. It should depend on qualifications, but not everybody agrees with that. A majority of African-Americans are going to vote for the African-American.”
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David Weigel.
Robert Henderson, Best Buy manager, Chelsea, Ala. Gingrich.
“There was a ton of voter fraud, that’s for sure. There was a big youth movement and the Republicans didn’t do themselves a favor, picking McCain. The young people went for Obama. The legal system loves him. The fraud is a problem. Eric Holder—I don’t know what his problem is. The arrogance level with him is just so high.”
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David Weigel.
Gordon Griffin, telecom worker, Brandon, Miss. Gingrich.
“I’ve heard a bunch of different reasons. Some people say it’s because he was black, and everyone wanted to have the historical significance of a black president, after the Civil Rights movement, and what have you. I personally find that ridiculous, because elections shouldn’t be about skin color. I don’t care about skin color; I was ready to vote for Herman Cain. And I think people had gotten tired of George W. Bush, the decisions he’d made—he was buddies with all the big oil companies, I think that’s what people felt.”
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David Weigel.
Kerry Anderson, retiree, Biloxi, Miss. Romney.
“He fooled the young people, mostly. He fooled the people looking for an easier way of life, and he made them belief life would be easier, the government would take care of things if he won. It bothers me that young people aren’t better-informed. We older people, we stay informed. I should say: I’m on Medicare, but I still work. I was on the election commission in the county this year.”
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David Weigel.
Bob Turner, retiree, Biloxi, Miss. Romney.
“Obama wasn’t vetted. We didn’t really hear much about him. I think the country, as a whole, was ready for a black president, and he made himself acceptable. And then the “change” made it worse. It’s the news media, really. Look at the number of negative things they wrote about Obama compared to what they wrote about Palin. I’d read it was better than 5-1, negative things about Palin versus negative things about Obama
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