What Do You Have To Lose?

Looking for answers to the question "What do you have to loose?" hangs above the playground bench in front of the playground, and the sign over the fence reads "Welcome to Diamondale". Two boys, fresh out of their recent backyard surgeries, walk towards the playground, unsure what they're about to get into. The "Welcome to Diamondale" sign comes with an "Amen" as well as the words "Keepin' it Easy", all in big bold letters. One of the gentlemen approaches the sign, unsure of what he's getting into.

"You're living in poverty, your public schools aren't good; your job market has bottomed out. You've got no jobs, 58% of your population is unemployed, what do you have to lose? You don't have anything to lose!" states Mr. Paul on his sign.

The question on the playground is "What do you have to gain?" to which the answer is "nothing", because African Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in America. The other kids running around and playing catch, kick, or ball are doing so because it is part of their cultural heritage. Within two years, the "Amen" will change to "Keepin' it Easy" and "Amen, Brother" and then the saying "You've come a long way baby" will become a little more appropriate.

Two weeks later, President Obama walks down the aisle at the White House and gives his speech on his stimulus plan for the American people. He begins by mentioning the four years of college that he had attended and finished, as an example of his success. He mentioned his own success as an African American, saying that no one else in his family had achieved as much. He ended his speech on a hopeful note, by saying, "Tonight is a day of hope and promise, a day of dreams and hopes."

Two days later, President Obama hosted a town hall meeting in Chicago to answer questions from black voters in the area about his policies, his work, and his achievements. During the town hall meeting, Obama was asked by an African American man what he would have to give up in order to be successful if he were elected president. Obama responded by saying that nothing at all, and again, was challenged by the man who had asked the question. The man then said that he wanted to know what President Obama would give up if he were elected president, to which Obama said he only needed "a good word," and some luck.

This prompted a rather amusing exchange between Obama and Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh asked, "What do you have to give up if you're going to be the next president of the United States of America?" Obama responded by saying that he didn't run for office just to win some political power over others; rather, he ran because he believes in a "healthy economy for the middle class, and that's what I'm going to work on now." Although it's unlikely that Obama will garner the same support among black voters in Michigan as he did in Illinois, it is likely that the loss of Tim Pawlenty's election will hurt the ticket among every minority in Michigan. With two weeks left until the election, it appears as though Obama has come out on top; however, there is still no clear winner in Michigan.

In the last week, Republicans announced that they are planning a final push to get enough votes to keep their candidate in office, but it looks like this effort may backfire on them. The question that must be on every voter's mind is what do you have to lose? The last week saw voters in both parties come out strong for their candidates. With less than one percent separating the two top candidates, it looks as though Obama may just squeak by with a little more votes than his opponent. Although many people have predicted that Obama will not win in Massachusetts, he may end up winning by a much larger margin than anticipated. In order to make up the difference in these races, independent voters will have to break heavily for Paul Ryan or someone else.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was how poorly the Republican ticket performed with African-American voters, who have been a consistently strong Republican vote group in previous elections. Although it was expected that some southern Democrats would break for McCain, only forty-three percent of black voters in Massachusetts voted for the Republican candidate. Even with this poor performance, the Democratic ticket still managed to edge out George bush by twelve points, which leaves open a very narrow margin for Kerry. If Obama can manage to secure enough minority votes to overtake Paul Ryan, he has to hope that white voters turn towards the Democrats in large numbers to prevent a victory for Paul Ryan, who would undoubtedly become the new president of the united States.