Does he make the college circuit? That's an inroad to young minds. You know the drill: History (or Poli Sci or Linguistics or Econ or Philosophy) prof mandates students go to the speakers' series, write a summary, whatever. I've been to enough where the mandated students look bored to death, but you never know who gets a fire lit under him/her from such incidental contact.

to the thread.

But has it occurred to Clinton supporters that the media, in its ever blundering and bat-like bumping into to things until it gets a "hit," has been the culprit in the oversensitivity to race?

As an Obama supporter, I'm on record as saying the Clintons are not racist. And by that I don't mean merely that they don't think blacks are inferior to whites. I mean that they did not deliberately inject race into this campaign. I think many of Bill's appearances were hounded by press vultures, looking for red meat. I think most of us in the masses don't get how many reams of platitudes, misspoken sentences, flat jokes, inadvertently offensive remarks get said on campaign trails. Nobody's perfect. If someone followed me around in my everyday life, they would find much of the above, and I'm as smart and decent an all-around person as they come. So stuff Bill Clinton said was cherry-picked and spun into race-baiting. Guess what? Much of what any of us say, while factually correct, could be turned into sexual innuendo, anti-Semitic, racial rage. Hitler was actually a really well-organized man who had charisma. See what I mean? Play that on MSNBC two days in a row and tell me I'm not seen as anti-Semitic. But what if it came at the heels of a question by one of my kids asking why people didn't recognize or reject Hitler's evil ways from the get-go--so I needed to show them that he had "good" qualities that fooled people? You get my drift.

My point is that the Clintons have always attracted a nasty press, and there's no doubt that's played into this campaign. Clinton supporters are rightfully frustrated but in my opinion don't see the forest for the trees. The press is not going away any time soon. If Clinton becomes President, this sort of thing will happen 24/7. So, for all you Clinton fans, this knot in your stomach, this bile in your throat, this bitter feeling of being wronged--on the Clintons' as well as your own behalf: Do you like this feeling? Do you want this feeling for 8 more years? That exact feeling made me sick in the last years of Bill Clinton's term. Who the hell wants to live like that?

To reiterate my major point: that there was misinterpretation about race in this campaign doesn't mean that Obama was behind it. Please don't forget about the press, which is not a conspiratorial monolith but much worse--a disorganized, unintelligent, disparate group of idiots looking for salaciousness.

There's been plenty of it for Clinton supporters on salon the last several days, no? The "I'm voting for Obama b/c he's black" and the "dudes" pieces did nothing to help him and only verified the worst impression his detractors have about his supporters.

Perhaps this is the kind of double-psyching that Clinton supporters see in the race thing?

And the very recent "baritone" and "Obama/McCain hypocrites" articles give ample room for anti-Obama rhetoric.

I say this without the slightest disgruntlement. I think it's natural for front runners to get the scrutiny. I suspect the fuel for the anti-Clinton crowd will subside a bit, a condition which typically brings her to the fore again. sigh. I don't see any end in sight.

PS For those who object to being called "you people" or whatever: Obama supporters don't have a monopoly on that. I read several "It's typical of Obama supporters not to read the foundational article before responding knee-jerk fashion" kind of posts. Like you, I wish it would stop. Let's assume the best of each other.

red says

All manners of rationalization will not disguise the fact that Obama's campaign and the MSM willingly portrayed the Clintons as racist leading up to, and during the key primaries and caucuses where black democrats made up the majority.

I would say only part of that statement is clear: that the Clintons were tinged with race-baiting. As to who was responsible, here are the options:

1. the Clintons: They (a) were caught unawares making a few statements that were twisted into race, so went along and strategized to make Obama the "black" candidate, knowing at the time that they were already behind significantly in SC so an adjusted strategy would be to marginalize Obama to keep his vote almost entirely black, the way Sharpton and Jackson seem to draw. Or (b) They decided this up front.

2. Obama: Found it difficult to keep the whole race thing out as planned, given that he is in fact black. (a) Not black enough at first, so wanted to paint the Clintons as racist in order to get the black vote. Took advantage of unfortunate Clinton statements bound to happen on any campaign trail. (b) Didn't really want or strategize for above, but when press took off with race thing, subtly, back-handedly took the high road, made everyone else look bad, secretly gleeful that he's now got black vote in pocket as well as significant white vote.

3. the Press: Not a monolith, but follow Clintons around like vultures, looking for anything. "Shuck and jive" has a black ring to it, sounds funny and suspicious coming from Hillary. "fairy tale" statement sounds promising. Add it to MLK, start looking for racist narrative. "Jesse Jackson" comparison, while factual, overlooks a previous, more similar winner in SC, so Bill must be a racist! Add it to the pile and we've got ourselves a meme, folks!

I'll take Box No. 3 for a hundred, Jack.