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WASHINGTON Remember when pundits hailed the election of Barack Obama as the beginning of a post-racial America?

After the election of Donald Trumpto the presidency, it seems like a distant memory. But in 2008, it was the prevailing wisdom among political commentators.

Cornell Belcher, a long-time Democratic pollster who worked on both of Obamas presidential campaigns, started seeing through the mirage of racial harmony well before Trumps election made it obvious. In Belchers book, A Black Man in the White House: Barack Obama and the Triggering of Americas Racial-Aversion Crisis, released weeks ahead of Trumps election, he presents years of research showing that white resentment grew steadily under Obama.

He too had hoped Obamas presidency would usher in a period of post-racial politics. But in his public opinion research in the ensuing eight years, he told HuffPost on Thursday, he saw a rise in racial aversion ... which accumulated in a sort of perfect storm for a candidate like Donald Trump.

To measure racial aversion, Belcher surveyed peoples responses to a range of questions ... from affirmative action questions to government doing too much for people of color, to people of color not being as patriotic.

The answers, collected over the course of eight years, showed a hardening of white attitudes toward people of color. Belcher attributes that trend not just to Obama, but to the rising coalition of communities of color that elected Obama.

Obama won reelection with just 39 percent of the white vote nationwide, not just by turning out more people of color, but also by taking advantage of the fact that the country simply had more voting-age people of color to turn out, Belcher noted. The changes that made that victory possible scared many of the white voters who went on to vote for Trump, according to the pollster.

Trump is a George Wallace-like historical figure. The difference is that George Wallace could not win the Republican primary. He couldnt win the nomination and become president, Belcher said.

But Donald Trump could, because now, with the rise of really, not Obama, but the Obama coalition, the wolf is now at the door, he continued. And what I mean by the wolf is at the door is, I mean America is going through dramatic shifts, demographic shifts.

Now Belcher is warning against Democratic analysts who see a message of economic empowerment alone as the key to rebuilding the party.

[The country is] only going to get browner, so we have to solve for this, or we lose the future, he concluded. And again, thats not pointing fingers at so many working-class whites, who, you know what, their world has changed, and the changes that are happening in our country, in this country, are stark. And we shouldnt be surprised that some people are uneasy about it. But we should have that conversation about that unease, and a prescription about that unease that doesnt pit us against each other.

Original post:
How The Racist Backlash To Barack Obama Gave Us Donald Trump - Huffington Post

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that there remain employees within the government who are continuing to promote Barack Obama's agenda, while a Republican congressman called on President Donald Trump to "purge" them from the federal workforce.

"I don't think it should come as any surprise that there are people that burrowed into government of the last eight years of the administration and may have believed in that agenda and want to continue to seek it," Spicer said at the White House press briefing.

Related: Spicer fixes his upside down American flag pin

During an interview on Friday on MSNBC, Iowa Rep. Steve King said Trump's got to get rid of those workers who aren't loyal to the new president.

"If I were Donald Trump, I would take a look at all of my political appointees that and anybody that was an appointment that came from the Obama administration. I would end that tomorrow morning, or tonight for that matter," King said.

"I will use the word purge," he added. "I've used it over the last few days. I think that needs to happen. I think it's a descriptive word that fits well within the English language, and I know there are people that will attach extra meaning to that. I don't know a better word to use."

Asked Friday about a presidential mandate for a purge like the one King described, Spicer said no such mandate existed.

Read the original post:
GOP Lawmaker Demands 'Purge' of Obama Holdovers - NBCNews.com

Barack Obama may well go down as our most stylish president. And now that hes retired, hes looking even sharper.

Visiting the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, on Sunday with former First Lady Michelle, he jettisoned his typically tailored suits for a pair of fresh, straight-legged jeans.

Theyrea far cry from the light-wash, roomy pants he donned to throw out the first pitch at a 2009 White Sox game.Im a little frumpy, he told The Cut afterward.. Those jeans are comfortable, and for those of you who want your president to look great in his tight jeans, Im sorry Im not theguy. (Looks like his stance on the matter has changed.)

This is hardly the first time the ex-president has shown his cool side. On a Caribbean excursion in January, he sported a backward baseball cap and sunglasses. Beside him stood his wife, Michelle, looking more ethereal than ever in a floaty caftan.

In his boldest, post-presidential look to date, Obama was snapped wearing an all-white ensemble, which made him look as if hed walked straight off a movie set. Images of the outfit, which included a short-sleeve shirt that showed toned arms,circulated on social media in February, inciting comments from ARE THOSE MUSCLES I SEE?!? Bruh, thats not even cool or fair! to Obama left the office n started wearing less n going out more he glowed up.

Can the runway be far behind?

Read more:
Obama has never looked better - New York Post

New York Times

Obama Education Rules Are Swept Aside by Congress New York Times When Mr. Obama signed the act in December 2015, many Democrats and Republicans alike celebrated the supposed end of what they saw as an era of federal overreach into local schools. The measure, known as ESSA, took a more collaborative approach ... Senate dumps Obama rule for holding schools accountablePolitico Senate scraps Obama regulations on school accountabilityWashington Post Senate GOP votes to nix Obama-era education rulesThe Hill (blog) Washington Examiner all 35 news articles »

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Obama Education Rules Are Swept Aside by Congress - New York Times

KANKAKEE, Ill. --

The Kankakee County Sheriff's Office published a Facebook post with an apparent Photoshopped picture of former President Barack Obama leaning into a window of Trump Tower with binoculars to spy on President Donald Trump. The post reads:

"President Obama served our country for eight years, he was a good president, " Sheriff Mike Downey said. "President Trump got elected in November, and he is now our president... People pay attention to the president of the United States and the former president of the United States, so we really didn't think it was an issue."

A couple commenters praised the sheriff's office series of Lock Your Doors posts, which have included memes of Willy Wonka, Clint Eastwood, and a pregnant giraffe.

Other commenters weren't amused by the Obama-Trump meme. One commenter said, "Is this NOT supposed to be racist?"

Another reads, "Very offensive. Completely inappropriate imagery. You can do better."

"An unknown white individual with an unknown a black individual - absolutely that would never have been posted. But again, when you're talking celebrities, the door is a little wider open to get people's attention," Downey said.

Trump's tie is even printed with the department's safety hashtag #9PMRoutine - a slogan intended to remind residents every night to lock all their doors - sheds, cars and garages included.

"We try to make these memes that are going to get people's attention. We focus on current events - good, bad or otherwise," said Downey, who sounded surprised at the attention Wednesday's meme was getting. "If we just post something every night to go lock your stuff up, people are going to start to ignore it after a day or two."

Downey said they've been posting those memes every night for the last three months.

"Obviously, there's no meaning to be any controversial, regarding politics, we're not into the national politics scene down here in Kankakee," Downey said.

Downey said there's no intention to offend anybody. Downey said the IT department creates the memes during their lunch breaks and off hours.

"Quite frankly, it's helped," he said.

In Kankakee County, budget cuts have reduced the sheriff's deputy count by a third, and property crime has shot up. So the social media campaign is designed to be crime-preventative.

Original post:
Kankakee Co. uses meme of Obama spying on Trump to urge residents to lock doors - WLS-TV