Warren: Quoting Shakespeare and ignoring blogs
Warren
St. Louis University political science professor Ken Warren says he remains disturbed over Gov. Matt Blunt’s assertion last week that Warren was wrongly accusing rural voters of being “racist” because most did not support Democrat Barack Obama, now the president-elect.
“I think that Gov. Blunt owes me an apology for making demogogical comments about what I said, for political gain,” Warren said. “He knows what I said isn’t what he said I said.”
But in the days since then, Warren said he’s ignored the various blogs that have ripped him, and he’s been focusing on his national exit-poll work and other duties.
“To quote Shakespeare, ‘It’s Much Ado About Nothing,’ ” Warren said today.
Warren maintains that he was not making any broad accusations about any voters who didn’t support Obama for president, in his post-election analysis, initially reported last week by The Beacon, an online publication.
Warren acknowledged that many voters had various reasons for preferring Republican John McCain.
“I said ’some people who voted for McCain are racist,’ but that’s a minor percentage,” Warren said.
His point, he continued, is that in such a close election in Missouri, the small percentage of voters who made decisions on racial grounds could make the difference.
Warren noted, for example, the latest pre-election poll in the Post-Dispatch, and earlier ones, had signaled that roughly a quarter of those polled believed that Obama’s biracial background would be an “important” or “very important” factor.
The polling comments came from whites and blacks. Warren noted that some African-Americans were voting for Obama primarily for his race, as well.
(At the same time, about two-thirds of those polled in Missouri said the nation was ready to elect an African-American as president. )
Our pollster, Del Ali, also said right before the election that, “In a close contest, at the last minute, race could be enough to deny Obama a victory” in Missouri.
“My exit poll showed the same thing as your poll,” Warren said. That poll showed that about 60 percent of the African-Americans polled said they would be a lot or somewhat more likely to vote for Obama because of his race, while about 53 percent of the white voters polled said they were less likely to vote for Obama because of his race.
Also backing Warren up was another local political-science professor, UMSL’s Dave Robertson, who wrote a similar analysis recently for The Beacon.
By the way, Warren has been in the midst of such a controversy before. After the city’s racially charged School Board race in 1991, Warren and his SLU colleague, the late George Wendel, touched off an unroar when they alleged vote fraud because of the huge African-American turnout (in the 90-plus percentage range).
Their assertions resulted in an Election Board investigation that resulted in a few African-American poll workers admitting they were casting ballots for relatives who weren’t showing up at the polls themselves.
As an African American I am proud to say that I voted for Mr. Obama because he will be a distinct change (hopefully improvement) from President Bush. The plans and ideas that he articulated seemed like a better approach than the ones offered by Senator McCain. I am also objective enough to express the fact that many an African American voted for Obama just because he is African American. I would shake my head and try to offer advice to people that vote that way. I was not old enough to vote when Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1984. One of the reasons why I did not feel the need to support him is because, I did not see him as one that could lead government. My dad and I had a serious talk about that moment in history. My dad never said it directly, but he was one of those people that would support an African American because they were African American. His life in America is much different than my life in America. In conclusion, I would say people should vote for a person because they trust that person to lead or be effective in the position.
Mr Warren dug himself a hole… the same one that Obama placed himself in with his ‘bitter, clinging’ comment, and has been trying to climb out ever since.
There are more than enough reasons not to vote for Obama… the lack of experience, the planned take over of health care, taxes… but people like Mr Warren like it better to just call anyone that didn’t support/vote for Obama a racist. Better sound bite… gets his name in the paper… and makes him look ‘real good’ to all the other leftists at the faculty club.
I thank Jo Mannies for the blog she wrote that helps clarify my position. As an academic studying electoral behavior, I have studied voting by various demographical groups for over three decades. Race happens to one of them. Fortunately, all sorts of studies, including my own, show that race is playing a declining role in voting behavior. It is still found, however, especially among older voters, less educated voters, and those living in the rural areas, especially in the south. This is an electoral reality noted by any academic and journalist studying the subject (e.g., most recently noted by the NY Times, Bill Schneider in National Journal, and David Robertson in The ST. Louis Beacon). Courses in electoral behavior, as I teach at St. Louis U., study in depth this kind of electoral phenonmena and students love to learn about what makes different kinds of people vote the way they do.
Let me be very clear on this point. I feel that racist voting is not only irrational since other credentials are dismissed, but it is immoral as well. As noted, fortunately, few voters still vote in a racist way because the vast majority of voters reject racist voting as simply wrong. We should all judge candidates for their leadership qualities, not on the basis of the color of their skin. I think that Gov. Blunt knows that this is my position because I made this position clear in the context of what I said on TV and in my interviews, although not everthing said in an interview is noted in the story. If Gov. Blunt had any question about what I said, he should have had his staff check what I had actually said or called me to ask for a clarification. Instead, he decided to defame my reputation for sundry reasons. I have worked hard to develop a good reputation, so I am hurt by his insensitivity to my reputation and career. His comments were not only harmful to me, but to Saint Louis University and my students.
pollsters all over the nation are showing the same results as Prof. Warren. Rural voters are openly admitting that they don’t want a black man “above them” and are afraid of black people becoming “more aggressive” with Obama as president. Do some research people.
Barack Obama is biracial. The absence of any acknowledgement of his white background is, in itself, racist.
What about all the voters that voted for Obama because he was black? Were they racists also? I think so.
In a nutshell, Ken Warren right, Matt Blunt always wrong, about everything, no exceptions; worse than Bush because Blunt should know better, that’s the theory; that having been said, I think Ken might have made the same point without using the word “racist”; it might be that not to vote for someone cause of their race, but we all have a predisposition to support people more like ourselves believing that in general they’ll represent our interests better; doesnt mean we always follow that predisposition, or even often.
Well, which is it…?
‘It’s Much Ado About Nothing,’ Warren said today, or the
340-word “I am hurt by his insensitivity to my reputation and career” plea?
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I know Caucasians in Missouri that voted for Obama because of his race, not in spite of it, in their belief that America needs an African-American President to help heal the wounds that have existed since the founding of our nation, through the Civil War, through the Civil Rights movement, to today. Like ripping the band-aid off to air the wound, sometimes we need tough medicine to cure our ills.
http://bigmuddypolitics.blogspot.com/2008/11/are-rural-missouri-voters-racist.html
I can’t help but notice that Ken Warren’s focus on “racism” focussed on white voters in a rural area, versus in the predominantly black areas where race was also a factor in the overall vote, so he only used one data set where two were available - and required - to make a “real” determination, instead of something that is great for getting publicity.
Mr. Warren, when attending a funeral, most people tend to remember the good things that occurred in the person’s life, and use the opportunity to come together. In this election, you failed to make statements that showed what progress was achieved, and while I am a Mc Cain supporter, I can see that most people were trying to use this election as a common ground place to come together, and don’t deny anyone of any race who believes the same. I contend that YOUR remarks were extremely insensitive, and that they were not only harmful to you and your reputation, but to Saint Louis University and your students. I am very suspicious of why you would have made such remarks, but I am pretty sure that they were for sundry reasons. Your categorizations are defeatist to the voters who waited hours to make their point known, be it for race, religious belief, or otherwise.
I guess it doesn’t really matter though, since Ken Warren swears that he is ignoring the blogs, instead of posting in them.
Mr Warren’s “crime” seems to be that he acknowledges that a small percentage of caucasian voters in the state had as their sole criterion for either not voting for Obama, or, voting for McCain, Obama’s race.
Heavens to betsy! Mentioning that racism exists and that some people may have made their voting choice based solely on race! Is this something to no longer be mentioned in Missouri society.
Mr Warren did not say that everyone who voted for McCain was a racist. However, it saounds to me that some are protesting overmuch the results of his polling. Perhaps there is some uneasiness their own life as to their attitudes toward race.
Watch out, you may find yourself saying that “good” black people are fine, but those “outside agitators” are not… Sigh.. At least Gov. George Wallace was honest about his racism, and even he recanted later in his life.
Boo hoo…poor Ken got his feelings hurt because someone might have falsely accused him of something…Matt Blunt had this situation every day of his four years in office as the media took every syllable of what he said and parsed it. If you are going to be a public figure Ken, grow some thicker skin…or if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
Big Red Leader, it’s clear he wasn’t falsely accused, he did it. As someone else posted, he neglected the racism exhibited by African-Americans who voted for Obama not because he was qualified or the best candidate but merely because he was black. Racism pure and simple yet they are allowed to get away with it same as BigDdemocrat. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Yellowbelly RHarnack and Ken Warren must be drinking from the same soup bowl.
“Yadda-yadda-yadda … you don’t agree with me …
therefore you must be a racist.”
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