Disclaimer: Walt is not a supporter of George Zimmerman. If I saw a black kid in a hoodie walking down the street, I'd be walking in the other direction, not following him. Even if I were a member of the vigilantes and cop wannabes who call themselves "Neighbourhood Watch", I'd leave well enough alone. Hey, I'm a lover, not a fighter.
Should Zimmerman be arrested and prosecuted? Hell, yes! Even one of the investigating offiers said so, but got shot down [Watch it! Ed.] by the local DA who said there was no way the state would ever get a conviction. Is that racist? Hell, no! It's just expressing the reality of criminal justice (sic) and race relations in much of the USA, more than a century and a half after the beginning of the Glorious War of the Secession.
What does this have to do with the presidential election? Please... I'm getting to it...
What Mr. Zimmerman has done, by killing Trayvon Martin, is stir the always-simmering pot of racial conflict, always an issue in the USA but one which we thought could pretty much be ignored in 2012. After all, white Americans had already proved that they're tolerant and liberal enough to elect a (more-or-less) black president. And there's no dearth of other issues: the economy (stupid!), unpopular foreign wars, Obamacare and "social issues" (read gay "marriage" and abortions).
So, according to Walt, race should have been a non-issue...until Mr. Zimmerman did for Mr. Martin. When the news broke, that giant sucking sound was the sharp intake of breath of millions of conservatives hoping and praying that Zimmerman is not a registered Republican. [Well??? Is he??? Ed.]
On the other hand, millions of white liberals were eager to portray Zimmerman as some kind of white skin-head neo-Nazi. Doesn't seem he fits that stereotype any more than Martin fit the stereotype of the black gangsta. All Zimmerman is, IMHO, is a typical nervous white "average American", afraid of "the other" and, unfortunately, resident in a state which lets people carry concealed firearms and says you don't have to back off from a confrontation.
Millions of people don't see it that way. The public backlash has been huge, and is gaining size and momentum even as I write. All that's needed to transform that backlash into votes against racism -- ergo, for Obama -- is a little encouragement.
Some might say it would be pretty low for the incumbent president to suggest that he should be re-elected to avoid handing the government of the USA over to the kind of people who run around shooting black kids. The president would never say such a thing, or even suggest it. Right? Well...
What Obama has done is call for an investigation -- fair enough -- and personalize the issue by saying that if he had had a son, he (the son) would've looked like Trayvon Martin.
Walt predicts that the words that will be remembered, out of the few sentences uttered by Obama, will be "my son". As in, "Some cracker done shot the President's son!"
You may think, gentle reader, that would be a bit of a stretch, but keep in mind that millions of "average Americans" believe that Obama is a Muslim. [Well??? Isn't he??? Ed.] George Carlin said that when you picture an average American, don't forget that 50% of them are dumber than that guy! Millions of voters will equate the killing of Trayvon Martin with a white racist attack on the President... and vote accordingly.
And here's the beauty part, for the Democrats. It will be impossible for the inevitable Mitt Romney to take (or even suggest) any position other than condemning Zimmerman and all he stands for (including the "right to bear arms") without coming across as a racist gun nut.
Stick a fork in Romney. He's done... thanks to Zimmerman. Lifetime pct .985.
Worth reading: "Why did Trayvon Martin die?" by Margaret Wente, in today's Globe and Mail.
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