Obaminators are beginning to annoy me.

I am glad Obama was voted into the Whitehouse.  I hope that a change in style will have a positive effect on the soft power that the USA wields.  I agree that the ideals that the US represent are a good thing and that they should be promoted in a positive way.  I think the US is ready for a bit of change, and I'd like to see great things come from a country whose achievements have lately been overshadowed by it's errors.  Obama I believe is the man to do this, and I believe that enough people in positions of power think this too.

It's got nothing to do with the fact that he's black.  I couldn't give a shit whether he's black or not and whenever I hear people mention it as a serious 'implication' it annoys me as there is implied racism (or racialism) in whatever it is they are saying.

I saw a video-poll on the internet today - interviews with people about Obama.

"I think he'd be good for the image of America because he's black..."  Great, so even though he was voted in by 53%, what you actually care about is the fact that his skin colour represents less than 20% of the country.

"He'll do great things for black people."  Of course he will - and all white presidents help white people - ask any white voter and he'll back that up.  What depressing about this is, the naivety of expecting someone who LOOKS like you to behave like you.  White people in America have known that for a long time.  It looks like black people are gonna have to prepare for the inevitable betrayal  of 'one of their own'.

But what betrayal?  Is there a suggestion here that black people need help?  One of the most accidently racist things that can be said is to suggest that 'black people' have a single agenda, or shared opinion on a subject.
Upon hearing a news report on the radio, who out of you would turn to your black friend and say "So what do black people think about this subject?", or "What do black people think about abortion/welfare/Iraq?"  You'd quite rightly get a slap across the face for reverting to a "them" mentality.

Yet that is what is happening.  People voted for/support Obama because he's black. 

But I'm being unfair - it's not that he's black Dominic, it's what his blackness represents.

So what does his blackness represent?  Please don't say the repressed underclasses - that's racist.  Please don't say minorities - that's anti-democratic, and there's plenty about him that makes him part of the majority.  Please don't say change - that's meaningless.

Progress?  Are you saying white people don't advocate progress?

Then stop going on about his skin colour.

As I've said to others, the great thing about Obama being elected is not that he's black... but that he happens to be black.  What he actually represents is not the underclass, the oppressed or 'change' but sound policies and excellent marketing.

And I'm not being naive in believing that race wasn't an issue for many, if not most of those who voted for him - I know that it was, and I have a word for it.  Idiotic.

Voting in a black man is not an achievement in itself.  It should not be a goal to get a black man into the Whitehouse, but a man who is fair, honest, and a capableleader.  The openmindedness of a nation to vote in a black man is the real achievement.

by the way, an Obaminator is an Obama supporter.  My word.