I'm curious to know if the following comments made by Pennsylvania Governor Rendell, a Clinton supporter, are as upsetting/disturbing/distasteful to some posters as those made by Senator Obama. Granted the governor is not a presidential candidate but he is a very high profile supporter of Senator Clinton. To my knowledge, his comments never made a ripple outside of the State.

"You've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," he said bluntly. Our eyes only met briefly, perhaps because the governor wanted to spare the only black guy in the room from feeling self-conscious for backing an obvious loser. "I believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann [2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate] been the identical candidate that he was --well-spoken [note: Mr. Rendell did not call the brother "articulate"], charismatic, good-looking -- but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so."

Gov. 'Blunt Talk' Rendell (and other topics)

Sounds to me like Senator Clinton's supporter thinks some Pennsylvanians are racists. Where's the outrage?

Same place as the outrage over Clinton taking a shot of a CANADIAN whiskey Saturday night. What, American liquor's not good enough for her? I guess she's not so opposed to NAFTA after all, is she?



Seriously, Rendell's an ass. I can't believe the garbage he's been tossing around lately. He must know that if Clinton loses, he's in deep doo doo.

Well, first he didn't say all of the residents were racist. I don't see anything racist in general. He stated that some people weren't ready to vote for a Black man. Ummmm....sounds to me like he has a firm grip on what's going on in his state.

Oh, and I just love the comment "Mr. Rendell did not call the brother "articulate" " !
1) how is it that it's ok for what I'm assuming is a black journalist to call another black american "the brother", but if a white person were to do that it would be racist??
2) articulate = well spoken. That's not nitpicky and petty. I mean really! If someone tells me I'm well spoken, I'm certainly not going to be offended because they didn't say I was articulate!

I think that the Gov. stated it well, because he didn't say "all" conservatives aren't ready to vote for a Black, and he said "probably are not" which allows for some "wiggle" room.

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"In life it is so hard to know which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn....."

Acknowledging that some people hold bigoted views id not in itself bigoted. It's realistic.

However, I did find this remark racist: "I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Rep. Geoff Davis yesterday.

Pol Watchers: Republicans talk about Iraq, Obama at N. Ky. dinner

yes, that is racist--anyone who has grown up in the South will tell you that referring to an Black adult male as "boy" is racist (and the quickest way to get the snot knocked out of you in some places)

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"In life it is so hard to know which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn....."

Exactly! He didn't say "all of the residents were racist" just as Senator Obama didn't say "all people who live in the country are bitter and cling to guns and religion because of their bitterness". My point in posting was to show IMO what a silly discussion the country has been having over the past 4 or 5 days.

To your point about "brother" -- I hear that term all the time when men are talking among themselves. Thinking it's a pretty generally accepted term among young men of all races.