Trust Betrayed--Childhood Sexual Abuse
Topic: Miscellaneous

We are visiting for a few days with Lacresha Hayes, author of The Rape of Innocence.  Lacresha recounts how childhood sexual abuse took her childhood and how she came to overcome the pain to grow and become a minister who helps others in the same situation.

This is an isolated case, correct?  It doesn't happen often, does it? When it does happen, it's some shifty-looking stranger who just happened by, correct?  Wrong! A child is sexually abused every four seconds. One of every 3 girls and one of every 4 boys is sexually abused by age 18. Ninety percent of sexually abused children know and trust the perpetrator.  The little old man with the sweet smile next door could be a child molestor.  The daycare worker, minister or local police officer could all be hiding a horrid secret.  Child sex abusers come in every age, size, race and social class.

So, if there is no way to tell a child molestor by the way he or she looks (Yes, women can be child molestors too!) what can a person look for that might be a clue?  There is no one particular profile, but a majority of child molestors have the following characteristics:

• Usually an adult male.
• Often appear to be hard-working, family men.
• Tend to be better educated and more religious than the average person.
• Find ways to be alone with children; for instance, teachers or coaches who are in a position to give individual attention to students.
• Tends to be well liked by parents and children; often one of the most popular teachers in school.
• Actively seeks children who are quiet, needy, or have problems at home.
• Often photographs the victim.
• Often collects child pornography.
• Usually accomplishes molestation by gradual seduction, not coercion.
• Lavishes attention on children they don't abuse to build a sense of trust by parents and other students.

Unfortunately, we can't always protect our children no matter how hard we try.  To keep them totally safe, we'd have to lock them away from society and that in itself would be abuse--a child needs to interact with people to learn, grow and develop into the wonderful being they are meant to be. 

There are some signs you can watch for that might alert you to the fact that something is drastically wrong in your child's life.  While these can be symptoms of something other than sexual abuse, they do indicate a need to find out what is wrong:

• Changes in behavior, extreme mood swings, withdrawal, fearfulness, and excessive crying

• Bed-wetting, nightmares, fear of going to bed, or other sleep disturbances

• Acting out inappropriate sexual activity or showing an unusual interest in sexual matters

• A sudden acting out of feelings or aggressive or rebellious behavior

• Regression to infantile behavior; clinging

• School or behavioral problems

• Changes in toilet-training habits

• A fear of certain places, people, or activities

• Bruises, rashes, cuts, limping, multiple or poorly explained injuries

• Pain, itching, bleeding, fluid, or rawness in the private areas

Parents can help keep their children safe by teaching children that their bodies belong to them alone and nobody has the right to touch them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.  If someone violates that wish, children need to know they can come to you.  Let them know that even if they are told things like people will think they are bad or that someone will hurt them or their family, that they must still come to you because these things are not true.

Most of all--if your child comes to you and tells you someone touched them inappropriately, BELIEVE THEM!  It is very rare that a child will make up a story of this nature.  If trust has been violated, your child needs you to hold onto and believe them.

The Rape of Innocence
Topic: Blog Tours

The Rape of Innocence:  Taking Captivity Captive-No More Victim Here

The title of this book may seem long, but it only captures a small portion of what lies within its pages.  Over the next couple of days, we will be visiting with the author of this book, Lacresha Hayes.  We'll look inside the book and talk with Lacresha.  Hopefully, before it is over, some of you will find hope and healing in your lives.

On April 18 at Noon EST, please join me as I welcome this inspirational woman to my chat room http://pub29.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/2488831080 for an hour-long talk on not only how her innocence was tragically ripped from her, but how she came to heal, grow and thrive today. 

Below is an excerpt from The Rape of Innocence by Lacresha Hayes:

Molestation happens across cultural lines. It happens across racial lines. It isn't based upon intelligence. It isn't based upon financial health. It may seem to happen more in poverty-stricken communities, but I can assure you that most of it just goes unreported.

I found out the hard way that molestation isn't just a black thing or a poor thing. It is a perversion thing. It happens to God's called and chosen people, and it happens to the average Jane Doe in an average home. God created each of us with purpose. I don't believe the enemy would waste his time tempting people to molest or rape a person who has no destiny and no call upon their life. Because of the very nature of the crime, it can be nothing less than a device of the enemy, one of his strongest weapons.

Someone reading this book may think that they have never been molested when indeed they have been. A molester is a molester long before he touches his first victim. He is first guilty in his thoughts. Some men never actually touch their victims. They just think and fantasize about touching. They rent the videos of children with adults engaging in sex acts. Some molesters do it with the words of their mouths. They talk filth to children. They take advantage of their positions in those children's lives. They open a door that should not be opened by planting filthy word images in young minds. Some of you haven't actually been touched, but you have been molested.

That family reunion opened my eyes to a lot of things. Because of that repressed memory, this book exists. God had to allow a series of events to happen to make me go back and deal with my past. This testimony was freed while I was in jail.

I was arrested in August 2005 for old fines and failure to appear warrants.  While I was in jail, God kept bringing the memory of what my great grandfather had done back to my mind. It seemed to torment me. It had been 2 years since I first remembered and here it was, still cropping up.

One night as I was praying, God spoke to me in a whisper and told me that I would be in jail until I learned obedience. He would never specifically tell me what I needed to do because I already knew. I was in jail for 44 days, skirting the issue, hitting and missing at what He wanted from me. Finally, I put pencil to paper and began to write. With every paragraph I was stopping and crying. It was dreadful! I didn't feel prepared for the suffering!

With every page I completed, the family reunion kept coming back up. The answer had been right before my eyes. The reason the memory continually resurfaced was that God was telling me to share my testimony with the world. He wanted to use my story to break heavy yokes of oppression, depression, worthlessness and anger off of others. In my own family, rape had happened... not only to me, but to others that I loved. I was angry. I was really angry at the devil for the first time and God helped me to channel that anger onto these pages.

My family reunion was the genesis of my assignment, my destiny. I was called to bring the light of exposure to the hidden world of familial incest and perversion inside and outside of the Church, and to bring encouragement to men and women around the world who have been victimized and disillusioned. Though this call is not easy, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Money and Manifesting--A Review
Topic: Book Review

 

Perfect Paperback: 198 pages

Publisher: Journeymakers Inc; 1st edition (February 2, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0977614069

ISBN-13: 978-0977614066

Price: 14.99

Author:  Dyan Garris

http://www.amazon.com/Money-Manifesting-Dyan-Garris/dp/0977614069

 

 

I opened the pages of Money and Manifesting with an open mind but not many expectations.  Having read quite a bit on manifesting throughout the years, I thought I'd be in for the usual "Think positive." and "Concentrate on what you want, and you will receive it."  I was pleasantly surprised that this book packed a great deal more into its pages.

Dyan Garris explains not only what manifesting is, but goes into detail about why most people fail to achieve success with the run-of-the-mill postive-thinking behavior.  She delves into what blocks energy and causes us to merely attract, rather than create what it is we want.

Money and Manifesting takes the reader through the individual chakras and explains how to know where our blocks are.  Ms. Garris then walks the reader through the process of unblocking his or her chakras, enabling the reader to truly allow the creation energy to flow free.

I closed the book literally feeling the truth in the words I had read.  A subject that many find confusing is made so clear there can be no way to go wrong if you follow the words.  You will soon see your life changing for the positive as you implement the process written in this book.

Don't be put off by the small size of this book.  Its pages hold within them the power to change lives and help readers realize dreams.  Not many books hold as much power and truth as Money and Manifesting by Dyan Garris.

 

A Talk With Dyan Garris
Topic: Blog Tours
 Dyan Garris The Person:

1.  What three words do you think describe you as a human being?

Compassionate, loving, happy.

2.  How do you think others would describe you?

Powerful, different, knowledgeable.

3.  Please tell us what you are most passionate about outside of writing.

Swimming and music.

4.  Do you have any pets?  If so, introduce us to them.

Oh! I used to have a pet but had to give him away. He was so cute. He was a little Bichon. He was darling. I miss him every day.

5.  What is your most precious memory?

My most precious memory is of my son as a little boy. He was so sweet.

6.  What is your most embarrassing memory?

What a funny question! One evening, in a social setting, someone accidentally knocked me over into a large potted plant. I was dressed in an all silk skirted suit. I think you get the picture. Looking back, it was actually hilarious, but didn't feel that way at the time.

 

7.  If you weren't a writer, what would you be doing with your life?

 I'm a psychic and musician in addition to being an author, so I would be making music all of the time. Psychically, of course. 
 

8.  In two paragraphs or less write your obituary.

Oh my! I've never thought about this.  I was hoping not to have an obituary.

Dyan Garris was a well known clairvoyant, author, and musician. Her books and music touched the lives of many. She is survived by three siblings, one son, and a very sweet husband. In lieu of flowers please say prayers for her soul and donate your time and energy to your favorite charity.

Dyan Garris The Writer:

9.  Can you describe the time you realized you were indeed a "real" writer?

When I first saw my intuitive cookbook in print, it was the most exciting moment. The feeling was indescribable.

10.  What is going on with your writing these days?

I just finished my book Money and Manifesting. I'm excited about it because it's different than what is out there and it's going to help a lot of people. Along with the information I fictionalized parts of the book so that the reader can have a left brain/right brain integration experience. Integration is a first step toward manifesting. And there is an enjoyable story there that everyone can relate to. If we can see ourselves reflected, we then have a platform for change. I wrote The Book of Daily Channeled Messages, Voice of the Angels Cookbook - Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking, Fish Tale of Woe-Lost at Sea, and two journals. One journal is for use with my Voice of the Angels-A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards and the other journal is for use with the CD series of music and meditation for healing, relaxation, vibrational attunement, and Automatic Chakra Balance.^TM

11.  What are your future goals for your writing?

I'm going to take a break from writing for now. I have spent the past two and a half years building a "toolbox" filled with spiritual tools that anyone at any place on their own healing journey can pick up and use for spiritual transformation. I have two more things to put into the toolbox and then it will be complete. One of those is a DVD and the other is one more music CD vibrating to the eighth chakra. I'm hoping to be done by July.

12.  Can you describe a typical writing day for you?

Not really. I don't really have a typical day with anything. I've learned to be flexible because anything can happen and it does.

13.  Why do you write?

I write to inform and teach and I like to be entertaining at the same time. I like to help people think, grow, change, and transform.

14.  What writer most inspires you?  Why?

I'm inspired by anyone who writes about the depths and resilience of the human spirit.

15.  How do you define your writing?

My writing is informative, instructional, deep, thought provoking, and entertaining.

16.  In one sentence-what do you want people to say about your writing in fifty years?

I would want them to say there was valuable wisdom there.

Dyan Garris The Details:

17.  Can you tell us where to find more information on you? Website?  Blog?

The main website is http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/. That site has most everything that I offer on it. It's huge and interactive. There is always something going on there. I write a Daily Channeled Message there and there is a free angel card reading there as well. I have about fifteen sites, but the main sites for the music are http://www.newagecd/. And www.myspace.com/voiceoftheangels. My blog is http://blog.voiceoftheangels.com/ 

18.  Is there a place where readers can reach you?

Yes. Readers can reach me at mail@voiceoftheangels.com

19.  Can you list all your book titles so people can look for them?

My book titles are:

Money and Manifesting

The Book of Daily Channeled Messages

Voice of the Angels - A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards

Fish Tale of Woe - Lost at Sea

Voice of the Angels - The Journal

Voice of the Angels - The Meditation Journal

20.  For new readers-what can they expect when they read your book(s)?

New readers can expect to learn something that will help them grow, change, and transform. And most importantly they will learn that there are no limitations. They will learn how to take what they have and integrate their mind, body, and spirit.

In conclusion:

21.  Take as much space as necessary to speak to our readers-what would you like them to know about you and your writing?

I've pretty much said it all. You are a very good interviewer, Joyce! I would just like to leave your readers with a few more things. For anyone who perceives themselves as stuck, you don't have to be. For anyone who believes they are limited, you aren't. Limitations are an illusion. You can do anything at all if you believe that you can. Open yourself to infinite possibilities. For anyone who wants to grow spiritually and connect with their true purpose, let me shine a light for you on your pathway. There is a reason for everything. Without the darkness, we cannot know the light. "Through love and light your answers dear, will truly be here soon. This illumination will shine clearly then, even by night's moon." © Dyan Garris, Voice of the Angels - A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards, The Light card.

**ReminderL  Dyan Garris will be available during a live chat tonight from 8-10 EST at http://pub29.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/2488831080

 Please join us!!!

A Look Inside Money and Manifesting
Topic: Blog Tours

Today we take a brief peek into Money and Manifesting, the latest release by Dyan Garris.

Introduction

The very first thing to understand about money is that we do not "make" money.  We create and open pathways to the flow of the energy of money.  Money is energy.  In and of itself it has no power.  The power it has is our perception that it has power and this is what fuels the energy of money.  These perceptions stem from illusions, perspectives, and deep seated belief systems.

If we understand these concepts as a basis, then we can begin to understand that we need to learn to open pathways of energy flow.  Part of that process is learning how energy works, how we can utilize that energy, and subsequently learn to manifest.

What makes this book different is that you will learn how to actually transform energy and learn how to integrate energy and align the mind, body, and spirit so that the things you are manifesting can actually occur.  This is called synchronicity.

The magic of synchronicity can't happen if your will isn't aligned with universal will because we cannot manifest from a place of ego, which is the place of wants, needs and desires.  This is the place where the mind decides what it wants irrespective of what the spirit came to do.

And synchronicity can't happen if you don't integrate and implement the learning.  Reading about how to manifest is one thing.  Thinking positive thoughts is another thing.  But actually implementing, and clearing a pathway for the energy to travel on and then integrating, is quite another matter.

The energy of money resides in the root chakra.  In order to manifest anything we need to understand the chakra system, why it's a factor, and learn how to balance and clear our chakras and chakra system.  You will learn how to do that here as well.  It is not difficult.  But it is integral to the process of manifesting anything.

And we will be breaking down the illusion of money as it relates to self worth.  Money as we know it is basically pieces of paper.  Those that have learned to equate their intrinsic value and ultimate "success" with money should seriously consider when they became pieces of paper.

These illusions and perspectives have to do with learned patterns and belief systems; and here you will learn about these things, where they originated from and what to do about them.

We will go beyond positive thinking and "you are what you attract" and "you are what you think about." While those things are certainly true, just knowing about those or engaging in positive thinking doesn't take you to the next steps.

Positive thinking and affirmations do not necessarily lead you to learning how to actually create money flow in your life.  You have to integrate the positive thoughts into your belief system as truth.  They have to take true form in the chakra system and replace the old patterns.  This is what we can then build foundation on, and subsequently an amazing new house.

You wll learn to integrate the energy of mind, body, and spirit and thus be able to attract and create anything you choose, not just money.

I wrote the book the way I did for a reason.  This is so that while you're reading it you're engaging left brain, right brain, and the different chakras as well.  The book itself is an exercise in integration.  And the characters each have blocks to manifesting.  In one way or another they are each in their own way of getting what they want.

Everything is a reflection, and if you can see yourself reflected here even in one small aspect, you will then have the keys to unlocking the doors of manifesting.  All it takes is the knowledg of how to connect the dots, the ability to turn the key in the lock, and the willingness to step through the doors.

Visiting With Dyan Garris
Topic: Blog Tours

I have the distinct honor of hosting Dyan Garris, author of Money and Manifesting, for the next few days.  Today we get a look at who Dyan Garris is and what her book is about.  Tomorrow we will explore inside with an excerpt.  Tuesday, I have a double treat for you--an interview with Dyan will be posted here and you are invited to stop in an talk with Dyan during a live chat in the evening (watch for details).  On Wednesday, I will share my review of Money and Manifesting.  Stop back often and please feel free to leave comments :-)

 

DYAN GARRIS

For many years Dyan Garris has been counseling clients in order to help them move forward in their lives. She is clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient. In addition, Dyan is also what is known as a voice recognition psychic and trance channel. This means that she can help her clients via telephone, which is how she conducted her readings throughout her career.

Dyan is the author, developer and artist of Voice of the Angels - A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards. This is a thirty card deck of angel cards based upon scenes from A Healing Journey Guided Fantasy.  Each hand illustrated card has its own channeled message in rhythmic quatrain verse from the angels.  Free angel card readings are available on her main website. A journal is available separately as an integrative tool for use with the cards and a meditation journal is available for use with the CDs.

Dyan writes the Daily Channeled Message which posts on her website. Recently she authored The Book of Daily Channeled Messages which is a compilation of inspirational angelic messages to be used for daily guidance or as a bibliomancy tool.

Her book Voice of the Angels Cookbook - Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking is an adventure in opening one's creative centers and communicating with your food so it can transform from raw ingredients into what truly nourishes you on every level.

In 2005 she created a CD series of instrumental music and meditation for Automatic Chakra Balance^TM, self-healing, relaxation, and vibrational attunement of mind, body, and spirit. Each CD is available separately, as well as together in a gift basket, and contains several tracks of relaxation music plus a guided meditation on the last track. The CDs have earned the National Health & Wellness Stamp of Approval.

Her new CD of instrumental relaxation music "Release" was released in late September 2007. Dyan's music can be heard nationally and internationally on numerous radio stations. "Release" recently charted at #3 on Music Choice's cable TV music channel Soundscapes and is currently nominated for New Age Reporter's "Best Relaxation/Meditation Album of the Year" and "Best Cover Art." "Illusions" recently charted at #1.

 She is a frequent radio guest on the Jay Grayce show at Tribeca Radio in New York City and has been interviewed by numerous other radio hosts.  Recently, Mystic Pop Magazine interviewed her for their January/February issue. Living In Style TV featured her products in their 2007 holiday show.

Dyan Garris is the author of Voice of the Angels Spiritual Cards, The Book of Daily Channeled Messages, Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking, and Fish Tale of Woe - Lost at Sea. In 2005 she created a series of music and meditation CDs for healing, Automatic Chakra Balance,^TM and vibrational attunement of mind, body, and spirit.

Media Inquiries: Margarita Miranda-Abate, margarita@mmastrategiccommunications.com

 

Money and Manifesting - Summary

By Dyan Garris

Money and Manifesting is more than a manual about how to apply the laws of attraction and think positively.  It teaches you the real secrets of manifesting.  Here you will learn what really stands in the way of manifesting, how to unblock the energy flow of money, and how to actually transform energy to get what you desire.

The Law of Attraction is part of what you need to know to manifest, but it is only one part of the process. We do not ultimately create anything with just the power of our minds.  While the power of the mind plays a very important part in manifesting, the very seat of creation is in our base chakra.

In the book Money and Manifesting you will learn how to unblock, activate, and integrate the energy of every chakra so you can effectively create exactly what you desire to create. For those that have tried in vain to implement the Law of Attraction, this book will help you understand exactly why this hasn't worked for you. And it will teach you exactly what you need to do to learn to manifest.

In addition to this, parts of the book are fictionalized. There is a good story here too that anyone can relate to. When we can relate, identify, and see ourselves reflected, we then have a platform for change.  The book is written this way so that while you are reading it, you are already actively engaging in the process of left brain/right brain integration. This is a first and necessary step to manifesting anything. When you're done reading, you've already had an exercise in integration and you're on your way to manifesting. You will feel an automatic shift.

 "It is not enough to think positively, repeat affirmations, and attract positive energy. We must implement and integrate this learning into our daily lives. This is the real secret of manifesting money. It is the real secret to manifesting anything." - Dyan Garris, author of Money and Manifesting.

Democrats and the Black Vote
Topic: Blog Tours
  Today we finish up our visit with Earl Hutchinson and his book, The Ethnic Presidency.  There Has been a lot posted this week to think about and consider.  I'm sure Mr. Hutchinson would love to hear your thoughts on his book.

Democrats and the Black Vote

There was irony and even a little history making in the events that unfolded during the weekend festival in Selma, Alabama the first week of March 2007. Forty years earlier the shocking and brutal attack by wildly swinging baton -welding Alabama state
troopers on hundreds of black and white civil rights marchers sent shock waves through the nation. It spurred an angry Lyndon Johnson to go on national TV and virtually order Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. Now forty years later, there were thousands of black elected officials in the South and the nation. In Alabama blacks made up a significant number of state legislators, and held hundreds of local and state officers.

There was also Obama. He was the first African-American presidential candidate who appeared to have a real shot at the Democratic presidential nomination. He was in Selma that weekend at the invitation of black Alabama Congressman Arthur Davis. Davis asked him to deliver the keynote address at the historic and legendary Brown Chapel that Sunday. The famed chapel was the launch point for the civil rights marchers.

Obama, though, wasn't the only mainline Democratic presidential contender in Selma that weekend for the commemoration. Hillary was there too. She had accepted an invitation to speak at the First Baptist Church. The dueling commemorative civil rights speeches by Obama and Clinton were more than just their tribute to a profound event that marked a racial turning point in American politics. The top contenders were dueling to establish their civil rights credentials. The big prize was the black vote. Their Selma speeches sent an electric signal that they wanted and needed the black vote to win in 2008 and they would do everything within their power to get it.

For much more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit www.ethnicpresidency.com or
www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256

Democrats, GOP and Asian Voters
Topic: Blog Tours
 

Probably no one was redder faced at what happened during a fund raising luncheon in San Francisco in February 2007 then Hillary Clinton. Reporters from Sing Tao Daily, World Journal and China Press were summarily turned away at the door with the lame excuse they represented the "foreign press" and the event was only open to local reporters. The three publications are highly respected and read intensely by legions of Asian-Americans in the Bay Area and beyond. They routinely cover a range of local and national issues. Clinton realized the goof. A spokesperson apologized, and a month later she hustled back to the Bay Area and met with nearly every Asian reporter she could lay her hands on at a special meeting.

She had little choice. The new political reality is that Asian-voters can help make or break a candidate, even a presidential campaign. The A-Team Democratic and Republican presidential candidates now know this. They did something in 2007 that would have been unthinkable a couple of presidential elections back. They worked extra hard to woo Asian-American voters. That was a stunning reversal of the past. A decade ago, Asian-American voters were concentrated mostly in California, Hawaii and New York. Nationally, they were a speck on the political chart and a bare afterthought to the top presidential contenders.

But in 2006, Asian-Americans numbered close to 15 million nationally. More than 70 percent were either American-born or naturalized citizens. The majority is English speaking, a significant percentage are college educated, business and professional persons. They are more likely to vote than Latinos. They make up an important voting bloc in a dozen states which include the battleground states of Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. The number of Asian-American registered voters has jumped in Nevada, Arizona, and California. These states are among the first to hold their primaries. A big win in any of them propels a presidential candidate onto the fast track to their party's nomination.

This didn't escape Obama. He didn't shirk from blatantly playing the Asian card. Within days after Clinton's meeting with Asian-American journalists, Obama issued a statement in which he gushed over Asian-American and Pacific Islander contributions to American society. He reminded them that they could consider him an Asian since he lived in Hawaii and Indonesia as a child. It played well. Obama almost certainly would play up his Pacific Islander childhood in campaign stump speeches during the campaign. His message was clear: Asian-Americans should back me because I'm the only candidate who is one with, if not, of you.

For much more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit www.ethnicpresidency.com or
www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256

Obama and the X-Factor of Race
Topic: Blog Tours

We continue our look ino the words of Earl Hutchinson.  This exerpt is from the book The Ethnic Presidency.  Comments anyone??  Opinions?

Obama and the X-Factor of Race

Despite Obama's brash talk about not running from his racial heritage, that history loomed as the X factor in his campaign. It had to be overcome for him to have any real shot at the big prize. One small but troubling sign that race wouldn't magically disappear was the personal death threats that flooded in to his campaign. Obama had the dubious distinction of being the earliest presidential contender to be assigned secret service protection on the campaign trail. Still, there were hopeful signs that public attitudes might be changing. In an early cover story on him months before he declared his candidacy, Time Magazine in October 2006 anointed him as the new face of the Democrats. It was a good label. Obama was telegenic, articulate, and a good campaigner who could easily raise millions of dollars.

Yet, the near unanimous backing that whites gave to the notion of voting for a black candidate for president also deserved to be put to a political polygraph test to see how much truth there was to it. There were outsized doubts about it.

Start with the question: "Would you vote for a black candidate for president?" It's a direct question, and to flatly say no to it makes one sound like a bigot, and in the era of verbal racial correctness (ask Don Imus), it's simply not fashionable to come off to pollsters sounding like one. That's hardly the only measure of a respondent's veracity. In a 2006 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, a Yale political economist found that white Republicans are 25 percentage points more likely to cross over and vote for a Democratic senatorial candidate against a black Republican foe. The study also found that in the near twenty year stretch from 1982 to 2000, when the GOP candidate was black, the greater majority of white independent voters backed the white candidate.

Republicans and independents weren't the only ones guilty of dubious Election Day color-blindness. Many Democrats were too. In House races, the study found that Democrats were nearly 40 percent less likely to back a black Democratic candidate than a white Democrat.

For much more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit www.ethnicpresidency.com or
www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256

President Reagan and Race
Topic: Blog Tours
 

Reagan's frontal attack on big government, social programs and civil rights further insured Republican wins in national elections and tightened the Republican Party's cast iron-grip on the South. Bush in 2000 and again in 2004 benefited mightily from Reagan's Southern and forgotten man strategy. In both presidential elections, he hauled in the electoral votes of the Old Confederate states, and the Border States with the exception of Maryland and its disproportionate number of black voters, and secured the granite like backing of America's heartland.

Civil rights, civil liberties, women's groups, and liberal Democrats still regard the Reagan years as the most disastrous in modern times for civil rights and social programs and that didn't change even as the nation lionized Reagan after his death in June 2004. GOP conservatives revel in the era and aura of their beloved icon. They should. His Southern Strategy, forgotten man pitch, and happy style of politics, put Republican presidents squarely in the national driver's seat.

John McCain's stay the course talk on Iraq, terrorism, taxes and curbing federal spending were pages straight from Reagan's playbook aimed at shoring up any wavering GOP backing in the white South. They invoked Reagan's patented God, country, and patriotic themes in debates through 2007. The Reagan imitators hoped that Reagan's legacy will do the same for them.

For much more information about Earl Ofari Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Affects the Race to the White House, visit his blog blitz homepage - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz. To order your copy of the Ethnic Presidency, visit www.ethnicpresidency.com or
www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Presidency-Decides-White-House/dp/1881032256