That's pretty funny, because Rebecca Traister at Salon wrote an article about which oppressed person she should vote for and how it is somewhat important for her to vote for a person that looks like her. (Presumably she meant having a vagina, not being white.) She's gotten quite a lot of flack for that, with some idiots going so far as to call her a gender essentialist.

Oh come on, like they'd ever interview a woman of color on national television.

There was a lovely thing where a white guy wrote to CNN to complain that now Edwards has dropped out that he only has one male candidate and one white candidate to choose from, but nobody ever asks him whether he's going to vote his race or his gender.

(Yeah, I think it was deliberate.)

Now, where can I get the tee-shirt version?

I LOVE this! I want the t shirt too!

i effing love natalie dee.

i effing love natalie dee.

What Maranel said. It's amazing that there's one other group faced with exactly the same choice, yet no one frames it as an "identity" choice.

Because, you know, white males don't vote their identity like all those other "irrational" groups.

Ugh, I hate the coverage.

This is only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed that, at least in California, Mitt Romney is running ads against Clinton? I mean, jumping the gun a little there, sir? Is the best way to win over Republicans for the nomination really Hillary-bashing?

Yeah, silly question. Sigh.

Love it.

The candidates' "stance on various issues," don't really cut it in this case. They are practically identical (Seriously, the issues sections of their websites are like cut and pasted copied of each other). Track records and political experience are where the real differences lie.

The ignorant news network is asking the question because the average American (of all colors and genders) is ignorant, and the question accurately reflects their decision making process.

Here in the cozy, educated feministing bubble we can all point and laugh, but out in the racist, sexist world, it is a very practical question that many people are struggling to answer.

It would be nice if reporters prefaced the question with "it's a sad commentary on our society that I feel the need to ask this but..." and of course the question should be posed to everyone, not just black women (as the comic points out), but I'm glad it's being asked as it's already buzzing in the minds of so many average Americans, myself included.

Sorry about posting it in the Monty post!

I'm so glad you posted this!!! I love Natalie Dee and her significant other, Drew. They're hilarious.

Rebecca Traister at Salon wrote an article about which oppressed person she should vote for and how it is somewhat important for her to vote for a person that looks like her

J Pierpont Flathead,

I don't know for sure which essay you're referring to, but if you're summarizing Undecided '08 I think you're unfairly mis-characterizing Traister's thoughts. She describes a number of factors that pull her in both directions--toward Obama and toward Clinton--and one of those is the fact that it would mean a lot to her to see a woman president in the White House. She is not citing that as THE reason she might vote for Clinton, and she's certainly not citing Obama's skin color or lack of a vagina as a reason to vote against him. She's merely pointing out that it can mean something to see a person who in some way mirrors oneself in the White House.

As a white woman, I can only speak for myself and say that it does mean something to me that a woman might be the next president. It also means something to me that an African-American man could be the next president. I would be proud to have either candidate as my next president. However, since I'm not African-American, I don't have the same personal connection with the history of oppression black people have faced in this country, whereas I do have a very personal connection to the way sexism is used in hateful ways toward women.

This is all to say that I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging our gut-level feelings about seeing someone "like us" in the White House. Sure, it's idiotic to reduce the race to that, and particularly to turn it into an either/or question. But I didn't see Traister doing that in her recent piece. I think she was genuinely trying to wrestle with the complex meanings behind her indecision and gut-level feelings about the primary candidates.

Yet another reason why I love NatalieDee:
http://www.nataliedee.com/010108/all-the-government-contracts-are-mine-now-fuckers.jpg

Just another reason why I love NatalieDee:
http://www.nataliedee.com/010108/all-the-government-contracts-are-mine-now-fuckers.jpg

hahaha hysterical, i love it.

That is a fantastic post.

It always stuns me the way that it is always assumed that all white people vote for what they believe is right and good and black people either vote from narrow self-interest calculations or use their votes to attack white men.

It's funny how they never spin it as "wow, for once, the presidential race is getting closet to looking like America." It's always "OMFG! Black guy! Woman! Insanity!"

The election is still 80% male (out of Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney and McCain, long shots excluded), and 90% white. America isn't that white. America isn't that big of a sausage fest. I wish the news media would stop talking about Obama's race or Clinton's genitalia as if it were some freakish anamoly, instead of a statically overdue nonissue.

Do I really have to be the one to point this out? Fine.

The reporter in the cartoon assumes that the black lady would only either vote for Obama or Clinton. Why would the reporter assume that? And to take the point further, the responder doesn't appear to even consider any other options. Interesting.

Dave, yeah, that's the joke. It's been happening all over the media for months now, exactly like you summed up. Pretty ridiculous.

"a statically overdue nonissue"

YES! exactly. This goes along with why I HATE when people say "Is America ready for a woman president? Is America ready for a black president?" ... america's been ready for that for as long as we've been ready for old white male presidents... and honestly if we sat around and waited for those in power to decide when they felt like they were ready...we'd be waiting around forever.

PS why are we overanalyzing this cartoon? it means exactly what it says... media assumes that people of color will vote for a person of color, a woman for a woman, etc. whereas all the republican candidates are white men, you can't make that same joke about voting for them, so this whole thing is playing out through the democrats.