Letters to the Editor
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@MusicRowDem
MusicRowDem: "And the O-team keeps saying that he "owns" the AA vote."
Got a link or reference? I think you pulled this out of your O-rifice.
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MusicRowDem
That she is saying she has the white blue collar vote is not where the racism comes in. If she had simply said she has white blue collar workers on her side there would be no controversy.
Where the controversy is here:
that found how Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me
She just implied in a big way that if you are not a white blue collar worker who has not completed college - you aren't a "Hard working American."
That is where the claim of racism is coming in.
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@AKA Smith
How is it that Obama is the nominee "because he is black"
Explain that logic becuase I thought he was the nominee because he has beaten Hillary in delegates, votes and states.
Anyone who thinks the superdelegates process is dumb and unecessary, I agree. But don't posit this result on party influece. Obama is where he is due to the voters. Perhaps you might wish that the Democratic Party stalwarts were different from what they are: urban voters, black voters, more educated, feminists, working women, union blue collar, activist members of a variety of other ethnic and social groups such as Asian, latino and GLT.
We can now also add (thanks to Obama) many young voters new to the process. This last portion could deliver Democratic regimes for decades. Research shows that how we start out voting, tends to maintain consistency over time.
The main problem with Hillary's logic is that older, blue collar white voters have a nasty habit of voting Republican. They are NOT as reliable as other groups. Furthermore, as Hillary's older, whiter demographic recedes in population, which it is doing now, younger and more diverse groups will dominate. To burn them, so to speak, would be to erode the party.
Some Republican operatives already know this and support more immigration-friendly policies such as George W.'s guest-worker policy. However, the rest of the GOP is fighting tooth-and-nail against it. McCain will have to go back to the latino community and explain how he is going to work for them because they already feel marginalized by some of the GOP rhetoric.
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"It would be awful to see the Clintons depart this campaign with the stain of racial division among Democrats as their legacy."
Interesting choice of words: "stain."
"...they deserve better from themselves than to encourage doubt about their decency and character."
Too late for that.
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@ Taliesan, since I can't sleep anyway:
1: Other people see it differently, particularly considering those comments by Bill, Ferraro and recently, Hillary Clinton.
I have to make my decision based upon how I see it.
2: Or they simply criticised her on her choice of words.
That was a mighty tempest over a mere choice of words. No, most of them (blogs, MSM, online commentors) claimed she was racist.
3: Actually, Edwards was disadvantaged by having none of the party machinery behind him and very limited press coverage. When he came second in the first race of the season - Hillary was still the one to beat.
That's because what the media wanted was a horse race between the woman and the black candidate.
4: And Hillary's campaign allegedly released a photo of Obama in traditional Kenyan dress.
Allegedly? You want to call someone a racist based on allegedly?
5: Go back and read Texas Girl's comment on this thread. Tell me again how particularly vicious and bigotted the Obama campaign has been.
I never read her and I don't want to read her. She is on my ignore list for good and proper reasons.
6: Bad punning is a valid form of expression. Besides that, Hillary hasn't been particularly roughly treated in this cycle, most of the damage done was done by her to herself.
We simply disagree. I think she has been very roughly treated. Some of the vitriol is due to her war vote, but the over the top sexism and the constant drumbeat of racism, racism, racism has been completely unfair.
8: You wonder why Obama supporters might just call you racist for that statement? When has being black ever helped an American presidential candidate? Are you seriously going to continue to pretend that all Obama has going for him is his race?
I just made that statement. I had never made that statement before. A Clinton supporter could sneeze and there are people who would call her a racist. Therefore, I no longer care.
This season, Obama has found a way to make being black work for him (until Wright) and he has almost total black support. He did it by getting his surrogates to label the Clintons as racists. Now Hillary Clinton, who no longer has any chance of gaining black votes has no choice but to appeal to white voters. That doesn't make her racist. That only means that she is using the option left to her. Moreover, it is the only option left to her largely because Obama succeeded with his race-baiting.
I never said that being black was all that Obama has going for him. Clearly, he has many fine qualities. However, race-baiting -- or rather encouraging his supporters to race-bait is not one of them. That is a despicable quality because it panders to the lowest of impulses. If I really believed Hillary Clinton used race-baiting at the beginning of the campaign (the MLK, JFK, LBJ comment) I would think the same of her. Instead, I believe the Obama campaign chose the low road first. Some of the Clinton's choices have been an understandable reaction to that. You reap what you sow.
I don't think all Obama's supporters are voting for him because he is black, but clearly, many are.
9: You mean the horrible injustice where America's people vote for the person they prefer, and argue passionately in favour of that candidate online? Terrible thing this Democracy innit?
I have seen Hillary supporters ridiculed repeatedly on the assumption that they were voting for her because she was a woman. I have grown weary of telling people the reasons that I actually support Hillary. If Hillary Clinton were gathering 90% of the female votes, I think I would be justified in claiming that most of her support from women was because she was a woman.
In these threads, people have made such an issue of race and I have seen myself and Clinton supporters who are not racist be accused of being racists. People are so obsessed with Obama's race. Often every their parting shot is along the lines of "You're a racist." People really cannot defend themselves from such bile. Or course they turn away from Obama. Of course they assume that many of his supporters are supporting him because of his race. In a way, I don't begrudge them that. However, the presidency is just too damned important to have that be the overriding reason why a candidate obtains the office. Putting him in office because of the color of his skin is as silly as if we put people in because they had blue eyes or curly hair.
I don't even believe in race. It is an absurd cultural construct. The thought that something so damned unscientific so dominates this campaign season makes me want to giggle -- or it would if it weren't so sad. Yes, race exists culturally, and yes, it has had a profound impact on people. Yet I cannot help but think that we don't serve the world well or forward our development as a nation if we make decisions -- any decisions of national import -- based on race.
Moreover, I simply believe that of the remaining candidates that Hillary Clinton is simply the better person for the job. That's why I will only vote for Hillary Clinton or only vote for a ticket that at least has her as part of the team. No Hillary, no vote from me.