Stacey Dash isn’t the only black person who won’t vote for Obama this year. Yet some Democrats are walking around overconfident like Laker fans after the Dwight Howard deal, as if the future is already written. All week I’ve felt this dread that come Election Day, regardless of race, people won’t show up as they did in 2008. I try to convince myself that people believe in Obama and are passionate about his policies. Then I remember that the sources of my confidence are bias. I look at black twitter and read comments from people who are supportive to the point of being fanatical, I peruse liberal websites that often come off as unapologetically skewed as Fox News, I talk to my friends who work in entertainment, and like all artist they rage against anything establishment just for the fuck of it. Of course these people are going to vote for Obama, but it’s not a fair representation of the rest of the country. A phone call from my old college friend made me realize that maybe I’m out of touch. Not only was he anti-Obama, he gave valid reasons why he’s given up. Now with the election days away I find myself more than a little worried.
Is Obama as popular as the die-hard supporters make him out to be? I’m not sure if this is the same country that held hands and claimed this was a new post-racial America. What happened to those college students that made Shepard Fairey’s Change poster a symbol of this generation? Four years later, have they graduated to a world where they can’t find a job? Are those sandal wearing neo hippies now back in Mom’s basement hitting a bong thinking, “fuck that nigger, he let me down“? What about those Hoodrats and Goons who went to the poles for the first time, not because they cared about politics but because everyone else was doing it? Was Obama just a trend, an excuse to get an “I voted” sticker and brag that they were there for the ride? The hood still loves Obama because he’s black, but do they still care enough to turn out in record numbers again? The truth is a lot of first time voters were very uneducated as to the power a president actually had. I really think some thought he would wave a magic wand, flood the streets with gold and free Boosie from his cell. Even if he has made progress, has it been enough to make GED Javon or Dope Boy Brian give up an hour of their day to go wait and line and vote? Will Welfare Wendy drag her kids down to punch that ballot, or will she sit on that couch watching Maury and assume that enough people will vote and Romney won’t cut her food stamps? Yes, those politically conscious people will come out, but will the average young American give enough fucks to go vote this time around?
I fear that too many people love the idea of Obama, but don’t really believe in Obama. African American Agent Of Change worked the first time around when the hype was in overdrive, but we all know what happens when indifference sets in. One of my clearest memories as a little boy was hearing that Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas. I watched one of the neighborhood guys start crying after he heard the news. Dude was literally sobbing, saying he should have ordered and watched the fight live. His ordering a PPV wouldn’t have saved Mike from that ass whipping, but thinking back now, I see where he was coming from. You regret that you didn’t do more to shift the universe in the favor of what you believed in, and if I didn’t write about this important election I would feel like I didn’t do my part. Obama Vs Romney isn’t a one on one fight; it’s an election where we are directly responsible for the outcome. If you truly care, it’s not enough to go vote, you have to get others to vote as well. Two people told me last month that their vote didn’t count; I shut that shit down, and made one go register to vote. Even if you are in a state where your vote may not make a dent, that kind of negative thinking is contagious. Laziness leads to laziness. If you hit Facebook saying, “Fuck voting, I’m going to stay in the crib and play this 2K13” the next ignorant fuck is going to hit like and add onto that. The next thing you know ten of his homies in Florida are in agreement which means people in battleground states are being apathetic because your indifference went viral.
You have the right not to give a fuck, if you don’t care that’s your prerogative, but have a legitimate reason. All of these pessimistic clowns love to talk about how nothing matters and you can’t change the world through democracy. Lames would rather light a blunt, listen to niggas rap about watches, thirst for bitches online, and blame the government for them not getting that 2nd interview at Wal-Mart. If you didn’t vote for that senator who was going to bring a factory to your city, then how can you complain about not having jobs? If you didn’t vote for that prop to give teachers higher pay, how can you complain about public school teachers being unqualified? Every two years you have a legitimate voice in your government. Trust that I will be out there that Tuesday morning voting to keep condoms out of porn (vote “no” on Measure B, long live raw sex)! Weed heads in some states even get to vote for legalized tree, and they don’t even know it because they choose not to educate themselves. You have an opinion on if Meek Mill’s album is better than Kendrick Lamar’s but you don’t have an opinion on the local and national economy? C’mon son. For some reason black people in particular let dumb asses brainwash them into thinking that the world is one big conspiracy meant to keep the race down. Read a history book, change is real, but it only happens when people take action, not when people complain. I’m sure there were some 1965 coons who got a flyer about MLK’s march on Washington and said, “Fuck that country ass nigga, The Temptations on TV tonight“, but enough did care and history was made.
I will be the first to admit that Barack hasn’t done as much as I hoped. I’m not one of these fanatics who unconditionally dick ride him and thinks he walks on water. I’m not going to make a hundred excuses for him. The ugly nature of party politics dictates that reform and change are slow and in this ADD world 4 years seems like forever. It’s not as long as you think given Bush left our country looking like the Cleveland Cavaliers when Bron went to south beach. I hate that I pay $4.79 at the pump and I hate the fact that my tax dollars buy Ratchet Welfare Queens red bottoms. Big government has me reloading the EBT cards of hoes I’m not even smashing, I feel like I’m being played. But I rather trick for the poor than bankroll a war with Iran or fund an embargo on China over some bootleg i-fones/i-fads. Despite my beefs, I believe in Obama. I believe in letting someone finish what they started, and it would be a crime to stop such a genuine once in a lifetime politician half way through his mission. I have no huge problem with the Republican Party, as much as I hate to admit it, these days I lean more to the right when it comes to many issues, but Mitt Romney is a fucking tampon. A sleazy car salesmen, a Roger Sterling like opportunist, a money grubber who’s willing to jerk your enemies cock under the table while smiling in your face. But guess what… despite what I think, Mitt Romney is tied in most polls with Obama. Yes the man that you think is a joke, is on the brink of becoming your president. Before you listen to your friends talk about how it’s a lock or brush your shoulders off, remember Tyson hitting that mat in Tokyo in what was supposed to be a warm up fight with a scrub named Buster. Obama is not unbeatable, and if you don’t step up, he will lose. The first black president will be considered a failure and Big Bird will be so desperate for work that he is forced to co-host 106 & Park. Do you want to live in a world where they say, “I told you so, those darkies can’t govern” or where Big Bird is forced to introduce shitty Ciara videos?
This is the politically correct part where I tell people to vote for who they want… but fuck that, vote for the only person that makes sense– Barack Obama.
