Not An Affirmative Action Job

Conservative columnist George Will looks at the most intriguing conundrum of this political season: how can Barack Obama still be leading in the polls when the economy has been so bad for so long? (Mr. Will also recites other Administration troubles, such as the recent disastrous turn of events in the Middle East and failed alternative-energy investments, which only add to the puzzlement.)

He finally settles on an answer that is unsatisfying to your humble observer [bold added]:

Obama's administration is in shambles, yet he is prospering politically. This may not, however, entirely be evidence of the irrationality of the electorate. Something more benign may be at work. [snip]

...the nation, which is generally reluctant to declare a president a failure — thereby admitting that it made a mistake choosing him — seems especially reluctant to give up on the first African-American president. If so, the 2012 election speaks well of the nation's heart, if not its head.

Those who support President Obama because they hate to admit that they made a mistake in 2008 may be misguided but are acting understandably. But those who vote for Mr. Obama just because he is "the first African-American president" are doing themselves and the country no favors.

As George Will points out, the Cleveland Indians' firing of baseball's first African-American manager, Frank Robinson, in 1977 was a milestone of "colorblind equality".

35 years after that event, I hope that voters will cast their ballot for or against Mr. Obama uninfluenced by his race. The Presidency is not an Affirmative Action job. © 2012 Stephen Yuen