Trading Races — Starring John McCain and Barack Obama

What if Barack Obama were white and John McCain were black?

Much has been made of the effect of race on this year's election, begging the obvious question, "What if the two contenders were to flip the script?" A new poster addresses that very question.

An image of a white Barack Obama next to a black John McCain with the words "Let the issues be the issue" between them began making the rounds in cyberspace last week.

The work has been attributed to Tor Myhren a Creative Director at Grey Advertising in New York. The poster was "intended as a message to the public that they should cast their votes based on the candidates' policies and ignore their racial differences," reported the Telegraph.

With a clamshell part in his hair, a toothsome grin and lightened flesh tone, "Barry White" brings to mind Omega president Greg Marmalard of "Animal House" infamy, shamed prez wannabe John Edwards or Dave Chapelle's Chuck Taylor. McCain for his part looks like a rotten potato with a dusting of gray mold.

So would this parallel reality change anything?

The so-called "Racists for Obama" would likely still vote for the Obama, because they would get to vote against the Republican ticket without having to hold their noses over white Obama's race.

Would "Barry White" still enjoy 94 percent support among blacks? Maybe, that was about what LBJ was able to garner in 1964, just months after shepherding the Civil Rights Act into law.

Would John McCain be receiving the backing of the majority of white voters? He probably wouldn't be that far off considering Obama is polling at 44 percent among whites.

Would "Barry White" have felt compelled to choose a woman as his running mate to counter McCain's blackness? Would having an experienced woman like Hillary Clinton on his ticket have been enough to get him past Black McCain?

Would Black McCain have chosen Sarah Palin, sending many in his own party into fits of despair? Would his own otherness have been enough for the Republican ticket? Would he have felt safe choosing Mitt Romney based on the former Massachustetts governor's economic expertise.

Of course these questions are impossible to answer, but it's something to argue about on Election Night.

Contact Us