The black wife advantage

The New York City Democratic mayoral primary was won by Bill de Blasio, a very tall liberal white guy with a black wife. Second place was Bill Thompson, a moderate, uncharismatic Tom Bradley-like black pol who was jobbed out of getting elected mayor in 2009 when the term limit rules were changed to allow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to run for a third term. Despite near-universal prestige press enthusiasm for Bloomberg, Thompson still almost pulled off an upset. I thought it would be fair if Thompson won to make up for 2009 but few in New York seemed to care.

Jonathan Capehart, a black Washington Post columnist, writes:

After a piece last month about a second poll showing Bill de Blasio was not a one-poll wonder, a New York political operative close to the New York City public advocate e-mailed me with a prediction. De Blasio has “staying power.” When I asked whether it was possible for his candidate to snatch the black vote from the only African American in the race, the answer was succinct. “Yup. I do. Particularly amongst black women,” he replied. He was right on both counts. 

De Blasio won just about every demographic. You name it, he won it. ...

But let’s focus on African Americans. Former city comptroller Bill Thompson was the only African American in the race. He and de Blasio tied for the black vote with 42 percent each. Now, let’s take a deeper dive. Thompson beat de Blasio among black men, 49 percent to 36 percent. As predicted, De Blasio won black women, 47 percent to 37 percent. But here’s the kicker: While black men were 12 percent of voters, black women made up 17 percent. 

... But when it comes to Thompson and the black vote, I believe there was something else at work. As we all know, de Blasio’s wife Chirlane is African American. But my unscientific and generalized analysis after more than four decades of observation says that a white male public person with a black wife or girlfriend gets major approval from African Americans in general and black women in particular. It’s the most tangible sign that “they” all don’t hate us and that some of “them” not only understand us but also know us. 

That last sentence is kind of boring and out of date and detracts from the better parts before . A more contemporary analysis is that black women like having the sexiness of black women publicly affirmed by examples of successful men, black or white, marrying them. Black women tend to have a high opinion of their own attractiveness, and are not pleased by evidence that this opinion is not universally shared.

Thus, Obama had to dump the Australian ambassador's daughter in New York and then the white anthropology grad student in Chicago and marry Michelle to have a political career among black women voters.

O.J. Simpson was seduced by a conniving white woman, but he finally saw the light, which the numerous black women on his jury just couldn't seem to hold against this prodigal son.

This may also shed light on New Jersey senatorial candidate Cory Booker's dilemma. Little is known about the ex-Stanford tight end's private life, which leads to the widespread assumption that he's gay. A less common rumor, however, claims that he has a white girlfriend in Brooklyn. I have no idea what's true about Booker, but you can see the problem the latter would pose for an ambitious black male politician. Unlike Obama, who didn't impress many people with his Presidential potential (or even his leadership skills in general), until he got to Harvard Law School at 27, people have been kind of thinking of Booker as a future President since he was elected student body president at Stanford.

By the way, as we all know, the worst thing in the world is to attempt to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality, except that liberal paladin de Blasio converted the ex-lesbian Mrs. de Blasio.