Analyst: Race to play big part in presidential race

Political analyst Carl Jeffers predicts race will play a much bigger role in the 2012 presidential campaign (AP image).

A noted political analyst says race will play a much bigger part in the 2012 presidential campaign than previous years.

Carl Jeffers tells Ross and Burbank the dynamic has changed dramatically since President Obama’s first campaign.

“The reality is four years ago, if you were someone who really was uncomfortable about electing him as president because of his race, you learned quickly to keep that to yourself,” Jeffers says.

According to Jeffers, the nation’s economic condition is sparking more overt racial tension that will bubble up in the campaign. He says the media are not as shy about including race in the political conversation.

“You’re going to have ads that are going to come out, you’re going to have comments made by legislators. It’ll manifest itself both against African Americans and Hispanics,” Jeffers says.

He says in addition to economic concerns, with so many states up for grabs, both sides will aggressively fight to capture every possible vote.

“This time around, states that Obama won four years ago are absolutely in question,” says Jeffers.

Among those in play, according to Jeffers, are North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and even Wisconsin, home state of GOP VP pick Paul Ryan. He says Obama can’t rely on the African American vote to carry him to re-election.

The African American vote’s not going to make much difference because most of the African American vote’s are in states where the Democrats have a fairly good lock or the Republicans have a fairly good lock.

Jeffers says the Hispanic vote is also critical in the campaign, especially in New Mexico and Colorado.

“If you insult Hispanics by making them feel like you’re attacking them or singling them out, that is a big problem.”

While the presidential race seems nastier in tone already, Jeffers argues the gloves have yet to come off and things should start to get much more heated after Labor Day.

Josh Kerns/MyNorthwest.com