Is racism behind why the election didn't go Obama's way?

Voters were not exactly lining up on Tuesday at Hackensack's Fairmount Elementary School.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

By almost any measure -- the economy, health care, environment, immigration, and boots on the ground in the Middle East and Afghanistan -- we're doing far better under President Obama than with his Republican predecessor.

Yet, the GOP was able to take control of the U.S. Senate and hold onto the party's majority in the House, ensuring another two years of gridlock until Obama leaves office.

Could the reason be grounded in low voter turnout, and white conservatives who still bristle at any mention of our first black president?

Apathy expected

Political analysts expected a low voter turnout in New Jersey on Election Day, WBGO-FM reported:

"Fairleigh Dickinson political science Prof. Peter Woolley expects fewer than 40 percent of registered voters in the Garden State will go to the polls because he says the state’s 12 congressional races really aren’t competitive.

“'People who are the strongest partisans or people who are the angriest are the ones who will come out. The broad swath of Americans who are not following all the issues closely are simply not going to know why they should turn out.'”

Today, Obama told a reporter turnout was as low as 15% in states where Republicans triumphed.

News judgment?

The Record played the Democratic sweep of Bergen County offices, including the defeat of the Republican executive, on Page 1.

But the report of a seventh term for ultraconservative Rep. Scott Garrett from a congressional district that includes Bergen County, where 70% of the voters live, is buried on L-3.

That fits with the editors basically dismissing Hackensack attorney Roy Cho and earlier Democratic challengers because they were unable to raise as much money as Garrett.