Tabloid report: Japan number two says Obama won’t win due to race
The Associated Press is reporting that a Japanese weekly tabloid has an article claiming that a top LDP politician doesn’t think that Americans will vote for Obama:
The Shukan Bunshun weekly quoted chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura as saying, “No matter what it looks like, the United States is a very conservative country.”
“Obama is black and Hillary is a woman. I guess it would be difficult for them to win,” Machimura, the government’s chief spokesman, was quoted as saying in a gathering with reporters in February.
“It will likely be McCain who will win the race in the end.”
Machimura has denied the report, calling the magazine “stupid” and issuing a statement about how he has black friends:
His office also issued a rebuttal to the magazine, saying that Machimura’s best friend was African-American when he studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
“It’s not in my mindset to discriminate against black people or women,” Machimura said in a statement. “In fact, Secretary of State (Condoleezza) Rice was the person I trusted the most when I was foreign minister.”
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I don’t understand Machimura’s reaction;Why does he have to show his best friend was an African-American?
He was quoted as saying since USA was conservative, and in his opinion, the American conservatives would opt for a white man rather than a black man and an woman, Obama will lose. It is irrelevant whether he is black friendly or not.
Many share the sentiment that race still matters in the U.S.—for that matter in the world, unfortunately.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/10/politics/main3813526.shtml
Anyway as a politician, his statement was dumb.
Seems that since Obama became a serious candidate everyone and his mother is an expert on american race relations…
LDP commenting on America being conservative? lol
I seriously doubt that race is the issue here, but the issues itself will. Both have conflicting views, and those who gain the most support win. Despite what other people say, we’re not that biased in our thinking!
Japanese tabloids make up stories, man… -_- I don’t think they have much credibilities. But I guess Shukan Bunshun is much better than Gendai, which is basically full of lies.
The only reason Obama got this far is because of his race. And if you don’t believe that then consider how in his own book he says he benefits from his race. I think America is so over race being an issue in most aspects. If he loses it won’t be because of his race. If a white person wins the presidency over a black person doesn’t mean America prefers white people.
He *benefits* from his race. Do you honestly think he would have made it through the grueling primaries if his call to arms was – “Because I’m BLACK!!” He got this far because the people voting for him are sick of typical politician bull and are looking for an alternative to that. Race helped Obama, but it wasn’t the only factor involved.
And if you think that Obama got this far because of race, then this statement you made is wrong – “I think America is so over race being an issue in most aspects.”
I didn’t know he had to say “Because I’m BLACK!!” to benefit from his race, I’m sorry. I am not saying thats the only reason, some people may be voting for him because they are sick of “typical politician bull”. I completely disagree because having him in the white house would bring an amazing amount of typical politician bull but I guess I have to respect that people get sucked into his shallow message.
I love that fact that we want someone to become president who had a racist pastor, has a wife that wasn’t proud of her country until her husband had a chance at becoming president, and is friends with someone who bombed the pentagon.
I don’t hate Obama I just hate people who defend him when they don’t know what they are talking about.
Wow, conservative alert!
His pastor’s racist? When it’s black “racism” directed at whites, that’s when you notice, eh? Well, even if that’s true, what does it have to do with anything? Obama broke off with Rev. Wright.
And in other news, Pastor John Hagee, who endorsed McCain, said that Hitler was doing God’s work.
But since we’re on the topic, Mr. Conservative American, in what ways, exactly, has Mr. Obama benefited from his race? It’s obvious that whatever these benefits are, they have nothing to do with you.
I don’t know the law exactly, but I’m under the impression that libel is an offense, although the Japanese have less of a tendency to be litigious. Still, I’d like to see Machimura take the tabloid to court over the issue and see how it all plays out.
Being black and saying the word change over and over is about all he has gong for him. I’m hoping Bob Barr the libertarian candidate picks up the torch from Ron Paul!!
Wow, that was a supremely uninformed and skewed. And I hope the second sentence was made with tongue firmly in cheek.
Whether he said it or not, saying you’re friends with Ms. Oiltanker (Condoleezza) is not going to help your case. The usage of blackpeopleloveus.com in this article is perfect. lol