"Sister, are you with us?"

As those of you reading my blog posts are sure to already know, I'm getting (have gotten) immensely cynical about this election cycle (and, joy, there's so much more to go). Hillary is isn't man enough, Barack isn't Black enough and the host of swaggering Republicans (oh, yeah, and the remaining Dems) are so white they glow in the dark. No one is questioning their racial or gender pedigree.

Disgusting.

Now, I'm hearing this disturbing question more and more, with white women and Black men both posing it. "Sister, are you with us?" White women, long suspect for their tendency to ignore Black women's needs in the Women's Movement until it served their interests (racism is a white, male thing, right?) are now wanting to cozy up to every sistah on the block to ensure that they can "count on (our) vote." Black men, assuring us that "they'll use your vote and then when she gets in office, they'll drop you like a crack habit." Hold up a minute, these are the self same Black men who call Black women "two-fers," demanding that we "give up" the Affirmative Action "benefits" we seem to so readily obtain from being counted statistically as women and minorities on AA plans. Side note for you Black men: we do in fact count for two--we get to be called both "nigger" and "bitch."

But wait: There's more!

This past weekend, I read an interesting article that just scratched the surface of the dynamic tensions felt by Black women as they ponder to whom they'll pledge their electoral troth. When the white reporter cornered the Black women at the beauty shop (note: If I saw a white woman at a Black-centered beauty shop, it would be like a sighting of the Yeti, and just as disturbing).

The women intereviewed commented on their varied beliefs:

• If we get Hillary, we get Bill back in the White House,
• If Barack gets elected, they'll kill him,
• The Bible says women aren't supposed to lead over men (help men, Jesus!).

According to a poll reported on CNN of black registered Democrats overall, Sistah Clinton has a 57 percent to 33 percent lead over Brotha Obama. This is up from 4 points for Clinton and down 3 points for Obama over a poll taken in April. When examined by gender, the found that, according to CNN political analyst Bill Schneider, "Black women don't just vote their black identity," he said. "They also vote their identity as women." Democratic political strategist, Donna Brazile remarked "the 'sistah' vote is paying off handsomely for Hillary Clinton." She went on to say, "It's not only getting her the women's vote. It's also getting her the black vote."

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