The only way it would be better is he is male. Many R voters won't be caught dead voting for a black person. Add in female with it and frankly the Democrats fielded about the worst candidate they could find besides dementia Joe. So in that regard, Obama would be better, but the heavily racist bulk of the R voters would ensure his victory wouldn't be that close.
Honestly if the Democrat ticket were reversed and Walz was the P and Harris the VP they'd win much more comfortably. Many R swing voters would be a more more comfortable voting for a white male. I look at my parents as an example. They get how devastating a trump presidency would be for the country, but they are trying to talk themselves out of voting for Harris. They are in Utah, so Trump will win anyway, they say. Or I don't like either of them, maybe I just won't vote. When I ask what they don't like about Trump they have a litany of relevant things to say. When I ask them what they dislike about Harris it's a bunch of hemming a hawing, because when they think about it, her gender and race still bother them. They just don't want to face that. But they are almost 90. For them racism was just ingrained, although I've always considered them to be pretty fair and balanced, especially as compared to many in their generation. But that generational attitude is damn tough to break through. I'll get them to vote, my mom is kind of excited to vote for the first female president. But you can tell it still irks them a little bit. Tough pill to swallow when they spent 30+ years of their lives in segregation and the constant racist culture of the era, especially given it was their formative years. There are plenty like them, only swinging harder to the racist side of the spectrum. At church gatherings I've heard off-hand comments about how a woman can't make tough decisions because of their soft sensibilities, and she's black to boot! As if that's basically enough to disqualify, although it's always given with some excuse, because the people saying it realize they don't have a good reason to feel that way. But it's the indoctrination for much of the country, especially older white individuals. Hence why the Mormons have a really hard time breaking free of that, since the church itself indoctrinated its members against people of color for the better part of a century, and it's still jarring for many in Utah to see black people more regularly now than even just 15 or 20 years ago, let alone actually vote for one. It's sad and pitiful, but it's true.
newrepublic.com
