Dat Old Plantation Callin'

Doo-Dah

Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign

Former congressman J.C. Watts, R-Okla., who was once part of the GOP House leadership, says he's also thinking of voting for Obama. Watts says he's still a Republican, but criticizes his party for neglecting the black community, and expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things," he said. “ Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee. "I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible." Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among black Republicans. They revel over the possibility of a black president but wrestle with the thought that the Illinois senator doesn't sit beside them ideologically. -AP ” Watts's motivation seems pretty transparent, to me anyway, and he's easy to dismiss. But I am disappointed when people like Armstrong Williams talk about renouncing a lifetime of stated political belief, and become an Obamamite because of race.  If Walter Williams, or Thomas Sowell succumb to this siren's song -- well, something.