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A Barack Obama banner by Brazilian blogger “Gordo Nerd.”Tomorrow’s presidential election has been haunted by speculation about the role that race could play in determining the winner.
Some estimate that Barack Obama could suffer from the “Bradley Effect” — where polled voters changed sides at the ballot box based on race, as in Tom Bradley’s 1982 bid to be governor of California.
But Obama’s mixed racial background has helped him gain favor and support around much of the world.
Jamaican blogger “b C” of “Stories of Me” says that many Jamaicans support Barack Obama simply because he’s a black man. According to b C, one would be hard-pressed to find a Jamaican McCain supporter, which he describes as “warranted” racism.
Brazilian bloggers are now posting a banner with the words “Não vote em branco” — a phrase which carries the double meaning of “don’t cast a blank vote” and “don’t vote for a white person.” Worldfocus previously reported on Brazilian candidates who changed their names to “Barack Obama”.
Paula Góes of Global Voices Online’s “Voices without Votes” discusses the response of Brazilian bloggers to the race issue in this election.
Not everyone rides the Obama bandwagon. Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah of “The Black Iris” says that the next U.S. president is unlikely to “change” much and attributes Obama’s prophet-like status to U.S. election culture. Tarawnah discusses the Bradley Effect and argues that race is playing an important role in the election.
The New York Post reports that Obama’s racial and cultural background may play a similar role in winning support from Arabs. Columnist Mohamed al-Menshawi calls the Christian Obama “the candidate with Muslim roots” and “the harbinger of solidarity between Americans and the Muslim world.”
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