...but also think it's important not to even tacitly condone these tactics.

The intellectually honest part of me can understand how a person could stumble over trying to recall and delicately phrase demographic keys from a newspaper poll.

But even so it's striking that Senator Clinton's answer to how she can win the nomination (and perhaps why she should?) is that a lot of white people won't vote for Obama.

Just for fun I went back and read what I wrote during the Ferraro fracas. I remembered getting worked up about something.

What if I'm running out of Benefit of the Doubt for the Honorable Lady from New York?

______________________________________________________

...There are just as clearly, though, plenty of hurdles he faces BECAUSE he is black and has non-WASPish name. In fact, many of these hurdles seem to be coming from the GOP and the Clinton Campaign, which just might be why Ferraro’s purportedly “innocent and merely analytical” comments are so scrutinized.

First of all, Obama (President of the Harvard Law Review) is clearly no Dan Quayle or George Bush Jr. who stumbled his way into office due to favoritism.

Secondly, consider the political atmosphere: the GOP actually polls to see just how racist they can go before it turns people off. There are whisper campaigns—which both pander to and inflame group-think hatred and, in fact, hate crimes—directed at Obama which bring us back to Rove 2004: “McCain has a black baby” and “Jon Kerry is a French Draft Dodger.” The same dude who once wasn’t “black enough” is now being painted as a frightening militant black terrorist. And Hilary’s principles don’t seem to compel her to “denounce and reject” the support of racially frightened whites. THIS is the part that makes this a story.

Okay, so MAYBE when Slick Willy likened Obama’s victory to Jesse Jackson’s, he was just talking strategy and demographics, not trying to send secret signals to white people that they should band together against the Other.

[Maybe when Hilary implied that she and McCain had both passed “the Commander in Chief Test” and Obama had not, she was sincerely concerned about his abilities. And maybe she was just as concerned and genuine when she next offered Obama the Frontrunner—“not Commander in Chief material”—the chance to be her Veep (a heartbeat away).]

Hillary, when given a chance to defuse verifiable lies about Obama’s religion, said: No he’s not a Muslim, “as far as I know.” Maybe these ARE the words of a genuine civil rights crusader who holds American ideals dear…

And that Obama in native garb photo: well, maybe it didn’t slip out of Hilary’s campaign after all, but even if this is this case, her campaign played dumb—pretending they couldn’t imagine what might be offensive…Obama didn’t have anything against Muslims, did he? Is this Democratic unity in the face of racist fear-mongering propaganda?

Thursday, March 13, 2008 08:12 PM

I once read a bio of George Wallace that said he wasn't especially racist, that as a young lawyer he even represented working poor black folks against more powerful interests (Wallace himself grew up very poor).

He ran once for Governor on a populist but recially moderate platform, but lost. Then he turned on the barnburner race rhetoric and a star was born. He later recanted.

It's a shame that his populism was so darned selective. Doesn't seem productive, and it doesn't seem right.

White aristocrats in the really Old South used racist ideology to divide black slaves and white indentured servants who might see common interests.

There's a better direction to be moving in, right?

I really don't want you to think that I take a condescending view of working class/poor white folks. I've spent most of my time among them, ain't sitting too high on the food chain myself, and understand very well not disowning a whole person (white or black) for having racist attitudes.

And I also understand a lot of the poor white (esp Southern) blowback anger.

It sucks that poor white rural people are still regularly mocked and caricatured in mainstream media and by "progressive" people who should know better.

And yes, p.c. witchhunts do happen (although the root concept that people should be treated with dignity and respect isn't loony).

But I've also spent a lot of time with and been looked after by poor working black folks, and I see absolutely no reason decrying racist tactics is the same as writing off the entire demographic those tactics were aimed at.

Whether you want to say Clinton is deliberately stoking racial tensions or not working to discourage them, I think she's no innocent babe lost in the dark.

You see things differently, I know. I bet we still agree about a bunch of stuff.

Do you know what just happened? You got bitter over culture war bullshit and made a voting decision based on it.

I respect you, too, and value your contributions to this forum.

And maybe you weren't responding just to me, but my whole point was don't not vote for Obama because some supporters are jerks (even if you think that's me).

If you really favor Clinton, vote for her, but please don't make a decision about who will run this country based solely on anger at people who won't be running the country.

well i guess you beat me to the submit button...

Thanks, Joan! I don't know if you happened upon my comment or not, but last time you wrote about this I was curious to know the specifics of this comment, so thanks for providing it—along with fair-minded analysis and a constructive question about how Dems can move forward (not that I necessarily agree...lol).

Using only empathy, bravery, and human connection, this NBA coach who can’t even sing (and probably knows it) transforms anguish and mockery into unity and joy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q4880PJnO2E