I think if Obama does not give up the Suthrin' Preacherman accent soon he is gonna...

[Didereaux]

start alienating a whole lot of people who now support him. He is not suthrin, and had not a shred of accent in his speech prior to his trip to South Carolina this past summer to pander to the black baptists.

[H2O Man]

1. clown

[bigscott]

2. remember

the crap everyone here gave HRC when she used that southern drawl a while back?

LOL

[MethuenProgressive]

5. Naught for nothing, but...

...she was in an AME church, quoting lyrics from an old Negro spiritual.
Not "everyone" here gave her crap for that. Just the Haters.

[cali]

3. I think you're desperate and talking out of

your ass. keep up the feeble farting.

[KennedyGuy]

23. looks like we touched a nerve here...

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

27. Yeah, the one is your little chubby.

:shrug:

[KennedyGuy]

29. yep..we got them..good one!

[Forkboy]

34. Say hi to DemKR for me!

[MethuenProgressive]

4. Do they really say "y'all" in Hawaii?

In his NH TV ads he trys to sound like he's from Harvard.
At least he's not stooping to A-yups.

[DU9598]

9. He is from Harvard, right?

I don't understand all of the cynacism and distortions.

I am an Edwards supporter, but this anti-Obama crap on here is getting close to disgusting. Obama ran a great campaign in Iowa and he brought thousands of new members to the Democratic Party of Iowa last night. We will reap rewards from Obama's campaign in Iowa for years to come.

[FrenchieCat]

6. Black dialect is not restricted to the south.....

But it appears that you don't have a clue about that.

[Evergreen Emerald]

7. What?

Black dialect? Sorry, he does not get a pass on changing accents because he his black, and therefore has the option to fall into a "black dialect" when he wants to? My ancestors came from Ireland, does that mean that I can fall into an Irsh accent and should not expect people to wonder what the hell I am dong?

[Didereaux]

10. nor is ignorance...both are irrelevent to the issue which is to...

show that supporters have responsibilities to. Blind defense of poor judgement or tactics does not help your candidate. A true supporter who really does want to see their pick elected would be sending polite but firm messages to the campaign headquarters letting them know what is really being said at the coffe shop and over the kitchen tables...quite often they get so rapped up in the strategy and the tactics of the moment that some obvious goofs get over looked. So you see dear enthralled one, I was not bashing your dreams, but merely giving you a tip on how to help your candidate...he or she will need more than your vote, they will need mine and millions of others who are not now wild about him.

[MethuenProgressive]

13. It's very prevalent with teen boys in upper middle class white suburbs, too.

But it's still hard to get street cred when Mum just dropped you off at the Rockingham Mall in her Volvo.

[Didereaux]

16. It's fake, and that is the crux of the matter. What else is he faking?

[RoveRage]

40. Fake.....fake.....now who does that remind one of?

[LostinVA]

17. This isn't about "black dialect" -- I didn't want to say this, but: BUSH DID IT

He didn't have some fake Southern accent until 2000. Obama's doing it is quite irritating.

[goclark]

30. Exactly ~ that's not Southern--- that is Black

I'm Black and when we talk to people that we feel comfortable with, that is exactly how we talk.

By the way, I'm from Philly.

My friends from Chicago talk the same way.

Many of us had our roots in the South so if we talk that way, it's probably because we learned it from our Slave Masters.

Edit: By the way,he went to Harvard and he is intelligent enough to speak several "languages" depending on the setting.

However,his language patterns seem to be making a lot of people very happy, even in IOWA with only 2.5 percent Afro American population.

GOBAMA! Keep on talking from your heart and don't you "let nobody turn you 'round."
:bounce:

[Anouka]

38. Thank you for mentioning 'comfort'

That's why I don't get on Oprah's case for dropping back to her roots when she speaks sometimes. Obama is different -- however, his wife *is* diaspora American black. Why wouldn't he pick up anything from her?

I won't discount that that 'comfort' makes non-blacks feel uncomfortable. They'll think we're either faking or we're slumming or worse when they're on the receiving end after only relating with a black in Standard Midwestern Professional, when that's not what it means at all.

It says 'I like you'. But that's not how it's going to be interpreted by non-blacks; it will feel strange and uncomfortable.

Now, it's a different story when a non-black drops into it -- unless they're Southern or grew up in an all black neighborhood, and even then you have to know that about them. I'm not going to lie. It does come across as offensive and pandering.

[rucky]

8. That's a blaccent...

I've worked with Black professionals who turn it on when they're talking to each other, but don't use it when they're talking to me. This is in Ohio.

At least he's talking to the people in the room, and not the cameras. That could be seen as pandering as well.

[Adelante]

11. I think you've been severely weakened by the experience

Go to sleep for a day and recover.

[Seabiscuit]

12. My wife and I have noticed the same thing the past several days.

We don't remember him talking like that earlier in the campaign, and certainly *never* during the debates.

We got the impression he was so carried away with himself and his feel-good down-home tent-revival-style euphemistic sermonizing during his recent Iowa speeches that he just slipped into character, imitating a southern minister preaching to his flock. In short: he sounded full of himself.

There are obviously people out there that lap that kind of stuff up, but my wife and I aren't among them.

[SheilaT]

14. I have likewise noticed a change

in his accent. I heard him speak here in Kansas in 2006, and he did not sound the way he did last night. Suddenly, to my ears, he sounds quite black, and it feels weird.

[Didereaux]

15. I do not think 'blacknes'(whatever that is, is the concern...it's the obvious PANDERING!

[BenDavid]

18. Hope alone is no virtue.Even despots are driven by hope

that their tyranny will succeed.

The concepts of hope and change are, of course, inseparable. Only a masochist undertakes the role of change agent against determined opposition without the hope of, at least, partial success. But, was not the "guiding force" behind <1> the American Revolution, the drive for independence from a distant taxing and controlling government; <2> the abolitionist movement, the zeal for freedom; <3> Lincoln's wartime leadership, including the suspension of habeas corpus, his overriding objective to save the Union; <4> the self-sacrifice of the World War II generation, their all-consuming drive toward victory; and <5> the Civil Rights Movement, a non-violent appeal for justice? After all, hope alone is no virtue.

When one listens to an obama speech, historical illustrations chosen by Obama's speech writers are race-related and folks that cannot be no accident. Obama will get called to the carpet on some of his revisionist history.Abraham Lincoln resisted Confederate succession with force of arms not to free the slaves, but to save the Union.Putting aside whether it yields him the votes to win the nomination, is there anything worthy of criticism with regard to Obama's somewhat oblique playing of the race card? As an informed voter and not a sound bite one, that's for you to answer.I'm just asking.

[TheDonkey]

19. Seriously he does put up a faux southern accent and it is annoying

Clinton and Edwards do the same. Yeah Edwards is from the south but he POURS it on. Can we please have politicians who do not need to pretend to sound southern. I am not an Obama hater but when he tries to kick into the phony accent I cringe. Totally unnecessary but I'll forgive him if he says it is him only "getting into the spirit" but seriously there is nothing wrong with a proper northern accent people!!!

[ms liberty]

41. No, Edwards is not putting his accent on...

That eastern NC accent of Edwards is genuine, and quite mild when compared to many natives of North Carolina, particularly those of us who live in the mountains and rural areas. If Edwards was to "pour on" his accent, as in to attempt to make himself sound 'more' southern than he already does, no one outside NC except perhaps the rural coastal areas of Va and SC would be able to understand him.

I say this to you as a native of the foothills of NC, who is married to a native of eastern NC.

[Enrique]

20. you've got a good point there

just kidding

[intaglio]

21. The affected dialects will be influenced by research

I think people find the classic "Yankee" accent harsh and abrupt

[skooooo]

22. I think speechifying is different tho...

Effective political speechmaking requires a cadence and rhythm that is not present in everyday middle-america speech. Cut him a little slack.

[annie1]

24. people like it, it makes them think they're witnessing something amazing.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. Your candidate lost.

Get over it.

[KennedyGuy]

31. well..at least you didn't call him a racist for bringing it up..

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. Because Obama supporters are always playing the race card, right?

:rofl:

[KennedyGuy]

33. You're not gonna win this way..

nice try though...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

35. KG, I already won.

[KennedyGuy]

36. you haven't won shit yet...

but keep hoping..
you are the kind of ass that gives Obama supporters a bad name..
Nd I will LOVE rubbing your face in it when he crashes..

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

37. I'm sure you will.

:rofl:

[JVS]

26. I'm glad that you found a way to say this without refering to Horaticus T. Chitlin again

[knowledgeispwr]

28. zing! n/t

[knowledgeispwr]

39. I never understood the hoopla over Sen. Clinton's use of dialect/accent...

and I sure don't understand it now with regards to Sen. Obama. It's not a big deal.

"Suthrin preacherman"??? Hmph. I'm not an all-out Obama supporter, I lean more towards Edwards and really liked Kucinich, but this crap is over the top.