This is a post I made on the TJMS Black America Web blog, in response to some of the thinking people choose to post. It's kind of a three for one post, addressing some of the questions and concerns posted. But there is a more compelling subject I will attempt to approach, once I think it through and can post it in a way that will make people think, even if they choose to get mad. In the meantime...
Have you ever wondered about the polls, how they acquire their info and are asserted as fact into the media spin? I made a cursory attempt to understand how they get their numbers, which have been wrong most of the time lately. So I went to pollster.com which looks at polls from all the various companies. I was totally confused, until I remembered an important experience I had sometime ago. I was invited to participate in a paid survey where you come in and look at commercials and rate them. What I learned in that experience is that the questions are asked in a manner that would give them the answers their client wanted to receive. Just like a push poll. Push polls are the primary resource (pardon the pun) being used during the primaries, for the poll info you hear from the pundits on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, et al. They call and ask a certain set of questions to elicit the answer their client wants to hear. So when you see them using the polls -- as I did yesterday morning -- only to have reality demonstrate the opposite effect, you have to wonder, don't you? My point is, if there is not a source provided, a total number of people polled given (I was told any survey not using at least 463 people is not a legitimate survey). I would not put too much confidence in the numbers. Here in Indiana, if they only called certain areas of the state to create the poll data, I would not believe it at all.
CNN political analyst and uncommitted "super delegate" Donna Brazile, continues to be one of the few voices of common sense on that network and she pointed out a fact to her peers, who were frantically wringing their hands as the Indiana results brought the candidates closer: African Americans make up only 12% of the total US population. And if it's true that, at the most, only 39% of eligible voters actually vote, what is the hysteria over who Blacks are voting for all about? Look, the highest percentage of African Americans in a single state is in North Carolina. They represent 21% of the population there and 32% of its electorate. In Indiana, we are approximately 12% of the population. I am a Hoosier, just like Tavis miley. While it's flattering to hear the media label us as the lone force behind Senator Obama's success, again look at the numbers and reality sets in. While it's great that we are there and supporting we aren't the only ones. So if we "emotional Negroes" are voting for Senator Obama without merit to our choice, I am interested in hearing what the reasoning might be for the votes of the majority. Are those votes emotional as well? I think we need to stop the labeling. I think we need to respect the right of every individual to make their choices based upon their own reasoning. I think that the notion of your ideology being the more superior, just because you have bought into what media, societal norm, etc. has said, is a bad one. I don't subscribe to the idea that one must be on the winning side therefore it's just easier to choose the person that white folks may agree with. I cannot buy into that mentality. If you believe in who Hillary Clinton is, buy in to her point of view, can get behind how she would handle the presidency go for it, you support her. But don't be so dismissive of my point of view just because I don't choose to follow your lead. No one ever said that this process was going to be easy, good things don't come easily, or so they say. My question for you is what will you do if Senator Obama gets the democratic candidacy? Are you going to take your marbles and go home, or are you going to support the candidate that has the best view on how to lead this country? If you do not vote, then it's you that will be the one helping McCain to win, not me. In all of the blogs from Clinton supporters on this site, none ever come to the table with actual talking points as to why Senator Clinton is the better candidate. Nostalgia over the Bill Clinton days -- by the way, I never thought of him as being a "Black president" -- is just not enough to convince me, nor should it. What I remember is that his hot mess with Monica and company took precedence, overshadowing anything that he would have affected as a president. And to be fair, I also want to point out that the rumor circulating about Clintons' pastor are false. The man who abused the child was a pastor in Clinton, NJ.
One more thing: I want to clear something up, as I have seen more media spin on the subject of Lake County. As I said, I am in Indiana and, as usual, people take whatever is said in some article and run with it, according to preconceived ideas or prejudices. What Mayor Clay conveyed to CNN and it was a live conversation around 12 midnight that I personally witnessed, was that they received 11000 mail-in votes and just like Indianapolis, who received 15000. These have to be counted and recounted MANUALLY. It took Indianapolis until 9 pm with a large staff to finish. The difference is that Gary is much smaller than Indianapolis and did not have the STAFF that Indianapolis had to do the counting. Because of the issue of trying to be above board, the mayor wanted to make sure everything was done right, and he wanted the final count to be all inclusive of the community AND there were both Democrats and Republicans doing the counting and recounting. BTW, the media was doing the speculating and instigating of the idea that there was wrong doing. They allowed the pro-Clinton mayor of Hammond, McDermott, to spout a lot of misinformation and suggest something was going on, despite Mayor Clay's repeated response that they were almost done and that the figures would be provided within minutes.(shame on him) I can only imagine what would have been speculated, had the numbers put Senator Obama over the top. Just another indication that truth doesn't matter when people don't want to believe it.
I got a chance to experience the Obama rally this past Monday night. I will post pictures later. What an experience!
Hey Webmasters! New Photo Album Service Launched - Check it out!
Bravenet Blog 
Blog Community
Get a Free Blog
Manage your Blog
bravenet.com