TODAY'S LETTERS: The Role Of Race In New Hampshire's Primary

By: E&P Staff Readers wrote in today about a piece about whether race cost Obama the New Hampshire win.

Did Race Bias Cost Obama A Win in New Hampshire?
Probably some 'white people' did tell pollsters they were undecided, when they really intended to vote for Hillary all along, in order to avoid dealing with the obsessively finger-pointing (white) racism-sniffers in the media-political echo chamber. After all, Obama's percentage - about 37% - was pretty much in line with poll predictions. It was the 'undecideds', predominantly female Democrats, who put Clinton over. This is why analysts have wisely avoided playing the knee-jerk race card; that tactic assumes that when the voters turn down a 'minority' or 'female' Democrat, then 'bias' (meaning what exactly, in the 21st century?), is the cause. Usually 'white racism' isn't much of a factor, even as generously as certain of our ideologues define it; Obama almost certainly benefits more than he is harmed by his racial identity, especially in the context of the Democratic Party and the media, where the affirmative-action sensibility is much stronger than among the public at large.

You might ask yourself why the racism charge almost never arises when the African-American candidate or nominee is a Republican; after all, party affiliation wouldn't matter to a genuine racist, would it?

Mark Richard
Columbus, Ohio



I live in Iowa and can verify that racism exists here and everywhere across the United States. It is evident, for example, in the comments following all major newspaper articles across the country about Obama.

However, the idea that this is a factor in Obama?s loss in New Hampshire has no value considering there is no evidence whatsoever. Please take the high road and require that integrity be the essence of your writing - not inflammatory useless rhetoric.

Senator Barack Obama, relatively unknown in Iowa and other early states at the beginning of the campaign has come from behind and passed other candidates including Clinton. He came away with more delegates in NH than she did because it was a narrow win. Obama supporters do not see NH as a loss. He continues to get impressive endorsements from Unions and just today from Senator John Kerry. Sixty foreign policy experts have endorsed him. It should be obvious that he is judged by intelligent people on his deeds as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, professor of constitutional law, his educational credentials, the friends he has made, and the legislation he has passed -not his skin color.

Pat Langhurst



In "Getting Out the Barack Vote: Did Race . . ." you quoted,

" "There is no poll question we can find that can truly measure this phenomenon. . . ." "

My understanding is that there is a clear differential between automated polls (polls where the question is clearly done by a recording, "push one if for candidate A, etc.") and polls conducted by living pollsters. The Bradley Effect is minimized in the autos. So find the info on auto vs. live numbers for Barack. If no difference, racial effect unlikely.

Pat A.