OUR_Magazine's Blog

Obama has more threats than other presidents-elect

By EILEEN SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON – Threats against a new president historically spike right
after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials
are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before. The Secret
Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are
investigating. But since the Nov. 4 election, law enforcement
officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet
postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with
any past president-elect, said officials aware of the situation who
spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of a president's
security is so sensitive.

Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign
posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a
"free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials
complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a
tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.

And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a
sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might
fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The
Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person
picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we
have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.

In the security world, anything "new" can trigger hostility, said
Joseph Funk, a former Secret Service agent-turned security consultant
who oversaw a private protection detail for Obama before the Secret
Service began guarding the candidate in early 2007.

Obama, of course, will be the country's first black president, and
Funk said that new element, not just race itself, is probably
responsible for a spike in anti-Obama postings and activity. "Anytime
you're going to have something that's new, you're going to have
increased chatter," he said.

The Secret Service also has cautioned the public not to assume that
any threats against Obama are due to racism.

The service investigates threats in a wide range. There are "stated
threats" and equally dangerous or lesser incidents considered of
"unusual interest" — such as people motivated by obsessions or
infatuations or lower-level gestures such as effigies of a candidate
or an elected president. The service has said it does not have the
luxury of discounting anything until agents have investigated the
potential danger.

Racially tinged graffiti — not necessarily directed at Obama — also
has emerged in numerous reports across the nation since Election Day,
prompting at least one news conference by a local chapter of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Georgia.

A law enforcement official who also spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak publicly said that during the
campaign there was a spike in anti-Obama rhetoric on the Internet — "a
lot of ranting and raving with no capability, credibility or
specificity to it."

There were two threatening cases with racial overtones:

• In Denver, a group of men with guns and bulletproof vests made
racist threats against Obama and sparked fears of an assassination
plot during the Democratic National Convention in August.

• Just before the election, two skinheads in Tennessee were charged
with plotting to behead blacks across the country and assassinate
Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxedos.

In both cases, authorities determined the men were not capable of
carrying out their plots.

In Milwaukee, police officials found a poster of Obama with a bullet
going toward his head — discovered on a table in a police station.

Chatter among white supremacists on the Internet has increased
throughout the campaign and since Election Day.

One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than
2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new
members on Election Day, according to an AP count. The site,
stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the
overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day. On
Saturday, one Stormfront poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus,
of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how
'messiahs' come to rest. God has abandoned us, this country is doomed."

It is not surprising that a black president would galvanize the white
supremacist movement, said Mark Potok, director of the Southern
Poverty Law Center, who studies the white supremacy movement.

"The overwhelming flavor of the white supremacist world is a mix of
desperation, confusion and hoping that this will somehow turn into a
good thing for them," Potok said. He said hate groups have been on the
rise in the past seven years because of a common concern about
immigration.
 

The "Bradley Effect" and Obama...Cause for concern or overblown?

With Senator Barack Obama's lead in the presidential race slowly inching upwards according to most polls, even John McCain has commented that the Illinois senator is starting to "measure the drapes" for the White House. If he is trusting of the polls conducted in recent weeks, Obama would in fact have reason to be optimistic. Not only do may of these polls show a double digit lead for Obama, but they also have shown comfortable leads in enough states to secure the needed electoral votes for a victory on November 4th. In recent days, there have even been whispers of a possible landslide.

Time to break out the champagne and measure the drapes? Not quite.

History suggests that confidence in the polling data may be unwise for African American candidates in statewide and national races. With the latest AP poll showing Obama and McCain in a virtual dead heat, many have wondered if the dreaded "Bradley Effect" has started to veer its ugly head.

What is the Bradley Effect? Simply put, it is the belief that, when polled, whites will express the desire to vote for an African-American candidate only to have a sudden change of heart once the actual voting takes place. It is dubiously named after former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, who when running for governor of California in 1982 lost by a narrow margin although polls showed him to have a seemingly insurmountable double-digit lead less than a week before the election. The list of black candidates since then who have been affected by the Bradley Effect seems to give some credence to this theory. Chicago mayoral candidate Harold Washington became the first black mayor of the windy city by less than four points, although polls showed his lead to be greater than 14 points. In the 1989 Virginia gubernatorial race, L. Douglas Wilder had to sweat out a win of less than a percentage point, although polls showed him to have a 9-point lead in the days preceding the election. That same year, New York mayor David Dinkins defeated Rudy Giuliani by two points, when a poll just a week before the election showed him with a commanding 18-point lead. In 1992, North Carolina Senate candidate Harvey Ganttlost by six points to Jesse Helms when polls showed him to have as much as a six-point lead.

The Bradley Effect has never been tested in an election of this scope and magnitude, so the possibility that it could exude its influence is probably enough to create sleepless nights for a certain African-American candidate while bringing a ray of optimism to his white opponent. Obama may rest assured that in recent years the Bradley Effect seems to be diminishing. In the past decade or so black candidates running in statewide or national elections have won or lost by margins that generally fall within the margin of error indicated in the pre-election polls. It has also been said that huge support from African-Americans and young voters--two constituencies that are traditionally under-polled and who Obama is counting on heavily-- may in fact negate any losses created by the Bradley Effect in the upcoming election.

Why This Fifty-Five Year Old White Lifelong Republican Wants Obama To Win
by Frank Schaeffer
(Frank Schaeffer is the son of the famous philosopher and minister, Francis Schaeffer, who is credited with being one of the key founders of the religious right.)

This is a great day for those of us who have been fighting for Senator Obama! I'm a good example of why he'll win in November. I'm the least typical Obama supporter. And there are many more like me. I cut my political teeth in the seventies through the early eighties as an organizer in the antiabortion religious right. I'm a fifty-five year old white man who has been a conservative most of my life. I've been a Republican activist who campaigned for McCain in 2000. I'm a big fan of the military. My son served in the Marines. If Obama can reach me he can reach anyone. My support for Obama has cost me friends. For instance the Bush family gave one of my recent military-related books (Keeping Faith-A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps) a ringing endorsement. After Laura Bush read an excerpt out on Meet The Press sales skyrocketed. I probably won't get too many more of those sorts of endorsements. But the chips are down and the presidential choice this year is too important not to not fight for.

We can't afford McCain. He'd be a president with a desire to be vindicated and "win" at all costs in Iraq. Iraq never attacked us. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terrorists were not in Iraq while Hussein was in charge. We opened the door for them. We aren't bringing democracy to Iraq. This was a war of dumb choice launched in a part of the world that can't ever be fixed by our military.

The next president will inherit the mess George W. Bush created with a big assist from Senator McCain. Above all we need a completely fresh start. And of only Senator Obama can provide that.

McCain has taken his lack of judgment about Iraq to the next level. McCain won't do do what is good for America, or even good for our military men and women. For instance, he is against the new GI Bill that would give fair educational benefits to our men and women. McCain doesn't want to give them anything that might entice them to do anything but go to war, again and again and again. McCain serves the warrior god of his warrior ancestors, not America's best interests.

As I see it our choice is between a heroic old man whose time has long past and who will perpetuate failed policy, and a brilliant, openhearted new founding father of the new post-racial, post-divided America the likes of which we have not seen.

How do my old pro-life views square with Obama's pro-choice beliefs? Very well. Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. He is a leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone. This makes him someone who is actually pro-life as opposed to Bush who paid lip service to right wing religion but did the opposite of nurturing life at every turn, including senselessly killing our soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The society that Obama is calling us to join him in striving for is a place wherein life would be valued not just talked about. As he said in his speech delivered on February 6 in New Orleans, "Too often, we lose our sense of common destiny; that understanding that we are all tied together; that when a woman has less than nothing in this country, that makes us all poorer." Obama was talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but his words also apply to our overall view of ourselves.

How do my pro-military views square with Obama? Very well.

Republicans may talk about patriotism but through their stubborn support for Bush's Iraq war they have become our military's worst enemies. And many of us in the military family have had it with the Republican's bellicose nonsense -- Bush's "Bring it on!" and now McCain's version; "I'll chase bin Laden to the gates of hell!" and "We'll win!" Enough is enough.

Obama comes to us from outside the system that has produced our present multiple crises of wars of choice and a failing economy. He does what all truly great leaders do: he speaks to the soul in plain self-revealing words of hope.

I think we all vote on an emotional level, whatever we say about our "reasons." And I know that I'm not the only tired culture warrior from the right who feels relieved and uplifted and -- most importantly -- believes Obama when I hear him talk about bringing us together to shape a better future. I also believe that he is an authentic man of faith. His sincere inclusion of Christian faith in his conversation with us rings true to this preacher's kid.

Obama touches me. He has a prophetic authenticity that reminds me of W.E.B. Du Bois' prayers that Du Bois sometimes wrote for his students. Obama also brings a touch of Billy Graham with him to the podium. His is a deeply spiritual call. And his critics that have dismissed Obama's ability to inspire as "mere words" are dead wrong.

We have never needed inspiration more. And we have never needed a president to inspire the rest of the world more. Every international opinion poll shows that Obama is not only the most popular American leader, perhaps ever, but more popular than any other world leader today.

Obama offers civility. Obama speaks in complete sentences, well-turned paragraphs, offers thoughts with intellectual depth, nuance, humility and compassion. Obama does not play on our fears. Electing Obama will also tell the world--and most importantly ourselves--that we can grow, learn and move on when it comes to race. We can heal our wounds. We can set an example again.

Obama is worth fighting for. He is worth losing old friends for. History has given us an unlikely lifeline. Do we have the decency and sense to open our hearts? What a great moment this is!

OKLAHOMA CITY - Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts is developing a cable news network focusing on a black audience.

Black Television News Channel, scheduled to launch in 2009, will provide "original news programming with a distinctly African-American perspective," according to a news release. It recently announced a multiyear agreement with Comcast Corp.

"With this agreement, Comcast continues to demonstrate its commitment to working with independent programmers with diverse points of view," Watts said in a news release.

Watts, a Republican, served as Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District representative from 1995 to 2003 in the U.S. House and now heads the J.C. Watts Cos. in Washington, D.C. He was not available Thursday for additional comment.

The news release said BTNC expects to be added to Comcast systems in key markets for black audiences such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Baltimore.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- He has publicly urged Republicans to vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton to keep the divisive Democratic nomination fight alive, but talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday he really wants Sen. Barack Obama to be the party's nominee.

"I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees," Limbaugh, among the most powerful voices in conservative radio, said on his program. "I now urge the Democrat superdelegates to make your mind up and publicly go for Obama."

"Barack Obama has shown he cannot get the votes Democrats need to win -- blue-collar, working-class people," Limbaugh said. "He can get effete snobs, he can get wealthy academics, he can get the young, and he can get the black vote, but Democrats do not win with that."

Sen. John Kerry -- an Obama supporter -- credited Clinton's Tuesday win in Indiana entirely to Limbaugh.

"Rush Limbaugh was tampering with the primary," he said on a conference call with reporters. "If it was not for Republicans taking Democratic ballots, [Obama] would have won."

The conservative talk show host has said the Republican Party will benefit from a protracted Democratic race that grows more bruising by the week.

NEW YORK - Nearly 60 percent of African-American children cannot swim, almost twice the figure for white children, according to a first-of-its-kind survey which USA Swimming hopes will strengthen its efforts to lower minority drowning rates and draw more blacks into the sport.

Stark statistics underlie the initiative by the national governing body for swimming. Black children drown at a rate almost three times the overall rate. And less than 2 percent of USA Swimming's nearly 252,000 members who swim competitively year-round are black.

Study surveyed nearly 1,800 children
As part of the initiative, USA Swimming commissioned an ambitious study recently completed by five experts at the University of Memphis' Department of Health and Sports Sciences. They surveyed 1,772 children aged 6 to 16 in six cities two-thirds of them black or Hispanic to gauge what factors contributed most to the minority swimming gap.

The study found that 31 percent of the white respondents could not swim safely, compared to 58 percent of the blacks. The non-swimming rate for Hispanic children was almost as high 56 percent although more than twice as many Hispanics as blacks are now USA Swimming members.

The lead researcher, Professor Richard Irwin, said one key finding was the influence of parents' attitudes and abilities. If a parent could not swim, as was far more likely in minority families than white families, or if the parent felt swimming was dangerous, then the child was far less likely to learn how to swim.

Irwin said this means learn-to-swim programs in minority communities should reach out to parents.

Disparity has a long history
The minority swimming gap has deep roots in America's racial history. For decades during the 20th century, many pools were segregated, and relatively few were built to serve black communities.

John Cruzat, USA Swimming's diversity specialist, said these inequalities were compounded by a widespread misperception fueled by flawed academic studies that blacks' swimming ability was compromised by an innate deficit of buoyancy.

"There are people who still give credence to these stereotypes, even in the black and Hispanic community," said Cruzat, who wants to break the cycle that passes negative attitudes about swimming from one black generation to another.

"These long-held beliefs are still so potent," he said. "If you don't teach your children to swim, you're putting your grandchildren at risk."

Cruzat was pleased by one finding in the new study that most black and Hispanic children do not disdain swimming as a "white sport." The study also found that swimming ability, regardless of race, increased in relation to parents' income and education.