Published: May 17, 2008 01:00 am         

ELECTION 08: Clinton, Obama supporters disagree on impact of race

FRANKFORT — Polls indicate Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton will score a big win in Kentucky Tuesday over Barack Obama. Kentucky fits the demographic profile of those states where Clinton has fared well — it’s less educated, less affluent, whiter, and more rural than many states.

But there’s an undercurrent of race in this election — something many don’t want to talk about.

When Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, endorsed Obama two weeks ago, his Lexington office was flooded with negative calls. Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo also endorsed Obama, who attended a fund raiser for Mongiardo during his unsuccessful 2004 Senate race, and he’s received some negative criticism, too.

“It’s mixed feedback,” Mongiardo said. “Some of it I expected from those who have bought into Swift Boat attacks on the other candidates. But a few have said: ‘I can’t vote for a black man.’ ”

Jeff Hargis, a Democrat in Republican Pulaski County and an independent trucker and farmer, said race has nothing to do with his support of Clinton or his concerns about Obama.

“We’d be putting a man in the White House who is completely unqualified — he’s only had two years in the Senate,” Hargis said. “We basically don’t know anything about this guy.”

He’s also upset at the way national media are portraying white voters in Kentucky and West Virginia (where Clinton won handily) who don’t support Obama.

“I listen to the news,” Hargis said. “Basically, they’re saying the people in Kentucky and West Virginia are racist. But that doesn’t have anything to do with how I feel. We’re probably in the worst condition in this country that we’ve been in for 30 years, and we don’t want to put a greenhorn in. All he talks about is change.”

Chandler responded to complaints about Obama’s inexperience with a historical comparison.

“Seems to me, we elected a president once before from Illinois who had only two years of experience in the House of Representatives,” said Chandler. “And Abraham Lincoln went on to make a pretty fair president I think.”

Libby Marshall, of Frankfort, a retired public interest attorney who is canvassing for Obama and traveled to Ohio to work for his campaign before that state’s primary, sees the race a lot differently from Hargis.

“The defining issue for me is the independence of Sen. Obama from special interests in Washington,” Marshall said. “He has refused to finance his campaign with money from special interests. No other candidate has made that kind of commitment to be independent of influence so he can be accountable solely to the American people.”

Marshall echoed Mongiardo’s comments about the reception she’s received as she’s canvassed for Obama.

“We’ve seen a mixed reaction,” she said. “But I have not seen any overt racism.” She paused, but then said, “Just say I have not seen any overt racism.”

Dan Armstrong has. The 71-year-old white social worker from Frankfort said he canvassed 40 households in Frankfort recently and received a friendly reception at only two.

“That was all that were even nice to me,” said Armstrong who said he is “saddened and disheartened” by the reaction. He grew up in the Deep South and still has family in Georgia and Florida, some of whom say they can’t support Obama because he’s biracial.

“I have dealt with racism all my life, growing up in the South,” Armstrong said. “I had hoped it had subsided but it’s still there just below the surface.”

He said he was subjected to racial slurs at one house, but most people he talked to, Armstrong said, “just said they didn’t want to talk about it. Most of them are just older and haven’t changed as the country has changed.”

Armstrong thinks Obama can win the fall election.

“I remain hopeful that if you give people a choice of four more years of Bush or four to eight years of a chance of change in this country, they’ll do the right thing,” Armstrong said. “Obama holds out the best promise to unite people.”

Nancy Botts, retired Barren Circuit Clerk who now works as bookkeeper for the Barren County Sheriff, said she’s for Clinton. She said as a woman, Clinton’s gender appeals to her but that’s not the primary reason she supports her candidacy. Nor, she said, is race a factor.

“Times are bad, and I feel she’ll make a difference,” said Botts who has been active in the Barren County Democratic Party for years. “I think she has the best interests of families and children in mind. Race doesn’t have a thing to do with it for me.”