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Well, “they” did. We as a nation did. And, while it’s difficult to remember, we were most proud of what we’d done by electing the first black president. But the angst is back. This time, it’s not just about reelecting Obama and safeguarding his policies. For many African Americans, it’s also about safeguarding the symbol he represents.
Obama as President meant a lot more to Black people than White people could ever possibly imagine.
Obama represents a symbol to Blacks showing how far they've come as a race, and how Black children can now dream of one day becoming President, and actually make it happen.
Keeping Obama in office means keeping that dream alive for all Black people everywhere, and keeping the symbol alive.
And for that reason, Black people in impoverished areas of Phila probably turned out in huge numbers, much higher than other areas of Phila.
So it doesn't surprise me that 90% of these impoverished mostly Black neighborhoods of Phila turned out to vote as compared to 60% of the city as a whole.
In 2008, Black people proved that they could elect a Black person into the White House.
Now they've proven that they can keep him there for a second term.
This is one of the GREATEST moments in American History!
Just look back 150 years ago, when Black people were slaves to White people.
Or look back just 50 years ago, when Black people were told to ride on the back of buses, and told to use their own restrooms.
Obama represents a symbol to Black people that White people could never possibly relate to, and THAT is why they voted in such high numbers.
From whay I have seen it appears McCain got 50 to 100 votes in the precincts we are speaking of, that is what we are talking about. The odds of 50-100 votes all dissappearing are astronomical. Particularly when Romney did better than McCain among black voters overall.
No, it's not astronomical at all. Your "statistical analysis" is a joke.
Again someone please point to voting precincts, districts or a group of districts where Republicans capture 100% of the vote.
I don't have access to division-level data, unfortunately. I would love to see comparable divisions in other states that are located within census tracts of extreme concentrated poverty and overwhelmingly one race. I think another piece missing from this is that they are only providing votes for Romney and Obama, no other party candidate.
Anyway, looking at these divisions, they are a few blocks a piece. Out of the random divisions I searched, all were located within census tracts where over 25% of housing is vacant, 50+% are unemployed, 95%+ are minority, and, families AHI is <$15K. Further, most of these divisions, especially the ones that voted 100% Obama, are within public housing developments.
I'm not sure if you've been to PH on the East Coast--I work within a few developments in Baltimore. Find me one public housing resident, let's say, out of Abbottsford Homes in Philly that would vote for Romney, and, I'll bake you a pie.
Baltimore you may have found one or two (all residents I spoke with here were voting Democrat). But, after the 47% BS, followed by the NAACP comments in Philly and the 'who let the dogs out' video, I think Romney really did himself in this election, especially when it relates to Philly.
I don't have access to division-level data, unfortunately. I would love to see comparable divisions in other states that are located within census tracts of extreme concentrated poverty and overwhelmingly one race.
Poverty?
In the heavily blue and middle class 10th Ward referred to as West Oak Lane in Philly, out of 29 divisions, Romney received all of 101 votes out of 13,434 votes casts. The Green Party received 10 with 4 votes for the Libertarians and 4 write ins.
If that is the case in a perfect distribution of votes Romney would have received a mear 3.4 votes in every division and the probability of a perfect distribution of all votes is impossible (.4 humans don't exist). So there has to be some skewed distribution of the Romney vote. If Romney received 100 votes in a single division that would leave 1 out of 28 divisions recording a single Romney vote and 27 without a single vote being cast for Romney. Expand that over 1,687 divisions and the lack of a single Romney vote in 3.5% of those divisions is hardly a story in a city where Romney received on 14% of vote total.
Poor whites may be dumb enough to vote against their economic self interest. Tell them you'll embrace their particular brand of religious stupidity, promise to go after the gays and explain to them how you'll deny the lying womenfolk the right to kill their fertilized babies and many of them are just dumb enough to buy it. Poor blacks aren't that stupid.
In the heavily blue and middle class 10th Ward referred to as West Oak Lane in Philly, out of 29 divisions, Romney received all of 101 votes out of 13,434 votes casts. The Green Party received 10 with 4 votes for the Libertarians and 4 write ins.
If that is the case in a perfect distribution of votes Romney would have received a mear 3.4 votes in every division and the probability of a perfect distribution of all votes is impossible (.4 humans don't exist). So there has to be some skewed distribution of the Romney vote. If Romney received 100 votes in a single division that would leave 1 out of 28 divisions recording a single Romney vote and 27 without a single vote being cast for Romney. Expand that over 1,687 divisions and the lack of a single Romney vote in 3.5% of those divisions is hardly a story in a city where Romney received on 14% of vote total.
Yes, poverty. I would want to look at a division with the exact same demographic characteristics as one of the Philly divisions, except, one that was overwhelmingly Caucasian, and, in another part of the country that has a long-standing history of Republican affiliation. Everything the same, on all indicators, except race. I would like to see how race plays a factor in voting behavior, specifically as the entitlement class was strongly verbally attacked during this recent presidential campaign. Entitlement class crosses all races.
Not sure if you are preaching to the choir or making an argument. But, just to be clear, if you were comparing areas with exact same demographics and backgrounds, I could understand a 'perfect distribution' argument. But, this isn't a randomized, controlled experiment and lower middle-class neighborhoods like West Oak Lane are quite different than the neighborhoods I linked to earlier. Most of the divisions listed in the article are public housing developments. Meaning, occupied by the "lazy, entitlement" folks who are extremely low income, dependent on subsidies, making less than <$10K, predominantly minority (95+%). West Oak Lane, from a quick review of census tract data in the 10th Ward, is a much more diverse group in terms of income--while predominantly minority, residents there have an AHI of $25K-$45K. West Oak Lane appears as more stable, individuals earning more, individuals owning homes (albeit modest) rather than solely renting or living in subsidized housing, more folks in the workforce, so, it's hard to compare. (Disclaimer, I'm a Baltimore expert, not Philly, hence, feel free to comment or provide further insight if what I'm reporting doesn't mesh.)
Further, Romney blatantly attacked the residents who live in those Philly divisions, not necessarily the West Oak Lane residents--he specifically attacked the low-income female head-of-household "single parents," the folks who are receiving subsidies, who are basically dead to him. I wouldn't blame residents in these circumstances for overwhelmingly voting for Obama. I've only been around to vote in a few presidential elections, but, never in my life have I ever seen the level and low-blow degree of attack against the lower classes as I did with this election.
Poor whites may be dumb enough to vote against their economic self interest. Tell them you'll embrace their particular brand of religious stupidity, promise to go after the gays and explain to them how you'll deny the lying womenfolk the right to kill their fertilized babies and many of them are just dumb enough to buy it. Poor blacks aren't that stupid.
Hmm so poor blacks are smart because they vote for the same party reflexively for 50 some odd years. During those intervening years this party has held absolute power in their cities. During these years while this party has held absolute power their cities have seen capital flight, increases in poverty and crime, high unemployment.
So what would be the motivation for someone to even attempt hypothetical voter fraud in Philadelphia County??
It's not like it was a toss-up, or a battleground county. It's almost totally implausible that Romney would stand a chance of victory there. If Romney got 100% of the votes in those districts he still would have lost in Philadelphia by over 25 points.
When was the last time a Republican presidential candidate came close to winning in Philadelphia? Or any large Northeastern city, for that matter?
Philadelphia is a union stronghold, and a minority-majority county.
If this was a conspiracy plot, it's truly the dumbest conspiracy I've heard of in a while...
Not sure if you are preaching to the choir or making an argument.
I'm not preaching and I'm not making an argument, just laying out the facts that mathematical probability that Romney not receiving a single vote in even a middle class African American urban voting precinct/division is remarkably high.
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