Letters to the Editor
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No Major Primaries
Exactly how many "major primaries" have there been since February 22? Uh, three I think. But the way Shapiro phrases it, you'd think we've been having one ever week.
The reality on the ground for Obama changes dramatically when it's him versus McCain. McCain made the enormous strategic error of backing every major policy position of the Bush administration. He's practically begging for this election to be a referendum on Bush. It will be. Hillary ain't running in the general.
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Maybe it's time
Maybe it's finally time to get the racists out of the Democratic Party? If there are "Democrats" who won't vote for a candidate because of his race, then perhaps they are not a reliable base to build the party on in the future?
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Obama must re-make the party
For me, Hillary is coming to represent the self-destructive, infighting, ineffectual side of the Democratic party: the ones who can't bring themselves to be progressive, the Republican enablers; the ones who elect politicians, wonks, and ideologues instead of public servants. This is why I feel Obama is our unmissable chance-- a well-spoken, clear-headed, unapologetic progressive could provide the leadership to get the party over itself and back to serving the common good.
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Pennsylvania is a strange state.
There is a definite us versus them form of identity politics that prevails in the keystone state. And yes, these folks in their small houses believe that Clinton is more like them than Obama. This thinking is no different than that of folks here in Central PA who think George W. Bush has their best interests in mind.
The more interesting question is which candidates' group is more likely to support the eventual nominee. I believe Clinton's supporters are more likely to vote for Obama, albeit begrudgingly.
On the other hand, my sense is that if Clinton emerges as the nominee the party is going to find itself in very serious trouble. I predict that African Americans will NOT vote for her in the numbers required to ensure her victory; rather, they will send a message of disapproval to the party by not voting or by voting for McCain. My sense of this is based on intuition and anecdote, but it is building.
African Americans are experiencing a new sense of empowerment and inclusion with the Obama candidacy and many believe that leverage should not be squandered on Clinton.
Democratic party leaders are no doubt constantly taking the pulse of the party and have a strong sense of how they want this blood-letting to end.
Over the past few days the sentiment among AfAm voters in Central PA seems to have hardened a bit, but not in a particularly bad way. These are folks who live in the shadow of the state capitol and who have watched economic development bypass their communities, seen patronage jobs for many generations go to the white working class friends of politicians and who voted for Rendell hoping for a change they have yet to see.
The talk here is of racism, of the old fashioned sort. People ask basic questions about who works where, and they seek visible signs of racial progress. For example, people talk about the PA Turnpike Commission, where no black person has ever served as a commissioner- and where white women are within the ranks of the senior amangement but no person of color. People here see that and they see Rendell touting Clinton's virtues- and they look at their circumstances and do the math. Simply stated, they think: why can't the governor find and appoint a black commissioner? The point is that the governor knows he must take care of the basics and the sense is he has not done so. He would argue differntly, of course, but the evidence shows that people of color are mostly right on this score. The governor and his candidate are viewed as insensitive to those whose loyalty has been steadfast over the years. It is in-group versus out-group politics, and folks know what they see and hear.
Interestingly, Dauphin County, where the state capitol is located changed from a majority republican district to a majority democratic district during the primary, due to the large registration initiative of the Obama team. Moreover, Obama beat Clinton here by a three-to-one margin of victory. This was a huge shift in the demographic and electoral map for Central PA. Even Hershey and Camp Hill, largely white communitied had large turn-outs for Obama.
The local paper, the Harrisburg Patriot News, citing primary winners and losers, identifies Harrisburg's mayor (for twenty-seven years!), Steven R. Reed, as a big loser, because he did the safe and easy thing- he endorsed Clinton - and lost. There will soon be the sound of the death knell for Mayor Reed whose legacy will be besmirched by scandals around environmental racism and misuse of taxpayer dollars, diverted to buy western artifacts, many of which are fake, and who has now become a despotic and embittered prisoner of his city...more a shadow of a mayor than a substantive reformer of the sort he once fancied himself.
So, the primary results in a macro sense tell one story about winners and losers; however, in a micro sense they tell a very different story whose implications will be felt not only this November but for many years to come. In this sense Obama has achieved what he sought to do- to empower and inform.
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I AM LION HEAR ME ROAR
If I were a man, I would have (as history has documented) done the math come to a rational conclusion bowed out of the race and supported the winner for the good of the people and my party.
Since I'm not a man, I'm keenly aware that my sense of entitlement is more pronounced than the male of my species. I am lion hear me roar, I have to settle a big score and I'll scratch the eyes out of anyone who stands in my way.
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Republicans are voting for Clinton
It's not just that Democrats are not voting for Obama...that he can't "close the deal." Remember that right-wing radio hosts are still encouraging their listeners to change affiliations and vote for Clinton. A pundit on an Oregon station was encouraging her fans to do that just last month. Record new voter registrations for Democrats should raise some red flags and tell you all is not as it seems. So some of the credit for Clinton's high voter turnout goes to Republicans, who would rather face her in November.