Fear, racial intolerance, bitterness, hatred, xenophobia--which emotion compels Obama haters the most?

Question

Someday, someone's going to do a study on why one group of Americans are driven by that one singular instinct to*panic* at the sight of a biracial African-American so much that they are permanently locked out of rational thought and basic reasoning skills. (Much like most people's compulsion to wreck our environment in a heartbeat--for a scant amount of oil which will never wean us off our foreign oil habit--just because we are now faced with $4 gas.)

But considering our nation's history, we are rife with examples of people paranoid of others because of their race, creed, skin color, sexual orientation, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

For the most part, 9/11 made us petrified of Muslims, much like our grandparents were conditioned to be scared of anyone of Japanese-descent; because of Pearl Harbor.

Answer 1

For me none of  the above.

I will not vote for someone that wants to bring back ideas that failed once, when Mr. Carter, was president!

I lived through this failure of a president and do not ever want to go through that again.

This is the type of "change" that senator Obama is trying to bring back.

Answer 2

What compels me the most is that I have no idea who this guy was before Oprah introduced him and all we have found out about him since is racist mentors, racist church, anti-American domestic terrorist associations, he's said rude, bigoted things about Americans, and he's been all over the board about foreign policy.  I don't trust the guy.

Sheesh, you depict our country in an awful way, your horrible racist, bitter fellow Americans, our horrible history, our paranoia.  What do you like about the USA that makes you stay?

Answer 3

Xenophobia.

good question...

p.s. my mother was a typical white woman as well. I guess im a real bad person too.

When the person who asked the question said "Xenophobia", hes talking about how people became angry at muslims after 9/11 and this has caused hatred for Obama (amongst many other things) because he "went to a muslim school" or because "his middle name is hussein". It's just created a panic in americans that anything remotely related to anything muslims or foreign is a bad scary thing that wants to attack them.

Answer 4

Obama: Heavy and Higher Taxes, Socialism, Big Brother getting Bigger, Higher and Higher Gas prices! ..... What's there to fear?

Answer 5

I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU SERIOUSLY DON'T THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE UNEDUCATED AND UNINFORMED ENOUGH  TO NOT WANT OBAMA AS THIS NATION'S LEADER SINGULARLY DUE TO HIS RACE?  Come on now--the American people (well, some of them anyway--except those liberals that have gotten us where we are now in the first place) are smart enough to know that he simply isn't the right person for the job due to his personality and reasoning skills alone.  Have you read his books?  Go to the library--read his thoughts--then KNOW him for who he is and what he is--SOMEONE TOO UNEXPERIENCED AND TOO UNEMPATHETIC TO BE PRESIDENT.

Answer 6

Got to be a salad bowl of all three.  Problem is, when you ask them why, just as when you asked a Hillery hater why [same crowd] they can't say a thing other than to reassert their personal vendettas.  No policy issues come to their minds.

Answer 7

Ignorance breeds fear..........and fear breeds ignorance.....

It's the fear factor - and not the healthy type of fear either.

Answer 8

Fear.

Answer 9

Personally I think this question was pure rant. I disagree with your character assassination of people who oppose Barak Hussein Obama.  It seems to me to be better applied to yourself than to me!

Answer 10

As you can see from the answers, not all Obama opponents are Obama haters, but I understand that you knew that when you asked the question.

I believe the haters are operating from xenophobia, which as Merriam Wester defines it is "fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign", not just foreigners.  An example would be the strangers on the TV show Lost, who were originally called the "Others".  People fear Obama because he comes from a different ethnic and social background than theirs, not just because he is half-black, but because he wasn't raised in the United States at all times and because he went to schools that are different from ours and one of his parents wasn't an American.  

Unfortunately, xenophobia is to a certain extent inborn and must be unlearned.  I believe if Obama loses, it will be because of a small group of voters who have not unlearned it and cannot consider him objectively.

Answer 11

Yawn,   sorry you said something of value ?

Answer 12

His political views: anti-Americanism, socialist Marxist thinking, and the fact he has no experience even managing a McDonald's much less governing America.

I did not know he was black.

Xenophobia means scared of foreigners so does that mean he one meaning not born in this country and not eligible to run for Presidency? Your words not mine.

Cons are more tolerant than libs and we base our opinions on logic and reason not feelings and emotions that is a liberal trait but nice try and thanks for confirming he is a foreigner.

Answer 13

Xenophobia is the fear of foreigners... dunno how that applies in this question.

Answer 14

Why, if someone doesn't like Obama, are they a racist, bitter, hatred, xenophobia person?

Obama never appealed to me I what he's said, and after reading his plans I like him even less.  I thought people were suppose to base how they vote on what they thought of the candidate's plans, abilities actions, and to me, for me, he isn't a person I want as President, based on those things.

So I ask again, why to people who support Obama insist on labeling those who don't as racial, bitter or xenophobia?

Answer 15

I don't fear the man even a little bit. Of course everything he believes in is BS,has been tried before and failed,and is Unamerican. So why would I vote for him?

YTP

Answer 16

Yeah.  There's a LOT of fear and anger out there.  Its certainly not all about this presidential election.  I think Obama, and his wife, represent an opportunity for some people to vent deeply held prejudices regarding ethnic minorities, religious minorities, fear and hatred of immigrants, etc.

I don't know how a social scientist would quantify it, but it would be interesting to try and dissect the venom some of the Haters display.  It seems to me much more visceral than typical presidential candidates engender.  Of course, this election has seen the internet take on a much larger role.  Perhaps this explains the impression of greater intensity.

Answer 17

It's none of the above.  We've just come to the rationalization that we don't have to prove that we're not afraid, intolerant, or bitter by voting for the inexperienced, but charismatic black guy.

Answer 18

Well, there are plenty of racists that don't like him, but everyone I know that doesn't support him has a political reason not too (i.e. thinks he's inferior to McCain on security, doesn't like his fiscal policy, etc.)

Keep in mind that not every Republican is ignorant (well, at least when it comes to skin color).

Answer 19

I don't hate Obama just what he stands for socialism.

Answer 20

taxes

Answer 21

He makes me sick cause HE"S a racist and liberal! How he talks bad about his white mother ! How she was a typical white women! He aint gonna win and if he does someone will be on the roof top ready to take  him out!