Letters to the Editor
-
Maybe it has something to so with Blacks not being as easily scrared
of a black guy....Hear me out.
The big x factor against Obama is that he scares white/latino "working class" voters... being a no flag pin wearing, Indonesia living, angry preacher having, guy with a non anglo name (1/3 of DEMS who dislike obama still believe he is muslim), who does not pander very well to the joe six pack.
He is less likely to be swift boated by Clinton/McCain among blacks...however, he is being "swift boated" among this other group.
Bush could bomb Syria and Iran on Tuesday, and the front page would still be about Rev. Wright and how he is super evil, for some reason.
-
Torpedoing Hillary's Argument
You know, HRC has been running on experience, yet as demonstrated by this phrase: "What if her electoral strategists had better understood the power of caucus states" You have to wonder, when will this experience manifest itself?
I remember right before Texas, Hillary made some comment about how she and her campaign were struggling to understand the Texas primary system. All I could think was,'I can't believe she didn't have this vital important information down tight.
Yes I guess regardless of how it turns out, people will be second guessing but for the life of me I don't understand how she can run on 'experience' when the new guy is beating her by running a smarter campaign.
-
You forgot a few details
Like Obama's campaign repeatedly attacking Clinton and her "surrogates" for making racist statements, even though they had to stretch the definition of "racism" beyond any credible meaning in order to do so. Remember how "fairy tale" was interpreted by Obama's people to refer to Obama's campaign, not to his positions on the war? Remember "shuck and jive" being a racist statement, even though it didn't refer to Obama? Remember how Clinton "insulted" King by saying that Johnson helped him pass the Civil Rights Act? Remember how Bill Clinton's comments about Jackson (a good friend of the Clinton's) winning South Carolina were interpreted as racist, even though Jackson himself said they weren't?
That was when the tide turned and black people started to move away from Clinton in droves. The charges of racism unified them to oppose Clinton and support Obama. In one of the most cynical cases of emotional manipulation in political history, Obama's campaign decided to divide the Democratic Party into "us" and "them", with "us" being all of the "forward-thinking" people who supported him and "them" being all of the racists who didn't. In order to win this primary, Axelrod has exploited tensions between white and black people and torn open wounds that were only beginning to heal.
"Race-baiting" is an ugly phrase, but it's the only way to describe how Obama and his manager's have chosen to run this campaign. You can blame Clinton for not responding adequately, but she made a choice to take the high road and not divide the party. It's very hard to win an election when you're playing fair and your opponent isn't. And for those who celebrate Obama's "win at any cost" strategy - Remember, during the general election, he won't be fighting people who try to play fair. He will be fighting the Republicans, who have been using dirty tricks a lot longer than Axelrod. And in order to win, he will need the support of a group of people who supported the woman whose reputation he destroyed in order to win the primary.
-
It is not that she botched the black vote...it is that she botched the vote
She simply cant win on policy against Obama...He just makes more sense and comes off as a better leader....
She holds on now by trying to break Obama down with the kitchen sink.
-
What ifs
Mr. Shaller concludes:
"But Clinton failed to stand for African-American Democrats when the chance presented itself late last fall and into early January, even if doing so meant firing key staffers or dressing down her own husband. Doing that might have denied Barack Obama the near-universal claim to their support he now enjoys, and the black-white coalition he built from it. For Hillary Clinton, the price of that failure may turn out to be nothing less than the nomination itself."
And Hillary and Bill might not have taken the low road they've taken since February - the road that has now reached subterranean status - to overturn the will of the voters:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-camp-considering_n_100051.html
After she finishes scorching the earth, what does she think can be put back together? If she manages to wrest the nomination from Obama, and to actually be elected, how much support would she have? The Clinton name already divides the electorate, and there's a large contingent of us who would have happily supported her a year ago but who are so appalled and disgusted by her campaign that we wouldn't support her any more than we do George W Bush, whom she's becoming more like every day.
Pastor Hagy (sp? I don't dwell on these stories) will not move into the White House if McCain is elected. Pastor Wright will not move in with the Obamas. But Bill Clinton, unelected, unrestrained, uncontrolled, and who's become a scary loose cannon, would move into the White House along with Hillary. We've had the Cheney co-administration, and the recent flap over Jimmy Carter's independent diplomacy - how soon would the Office of Bill Clinton turn the country back away from the spineless Democrats?
I voted for Bill twice, but I now have such Clinton fatigue that I've given up on hope. They've already crippled Obama even if they don't steal the nomination.
Things were so looking up in November, 2006. Back to the abyss.
And with less purchasing power to kill the pain. What a bummer after the last 7+ years.
-
You Softpedaled Clinton's actions in your piece
I think the black vote disappeared for Clinton with Bill's remarks in SC, her willingness to tear down a black candidate, her feeling that she should be president and Obama VP as Obama led, her refusal to repudiate Geraldine Ferraro's comments, her cynical use of the Reverend Wright situation, and her husband's assertion and then denial of the taped assertion that Obama had used the race card against them. It's not her failure to challenge, but her willingness to do anything to try to garner this nomination, even when the math is against her, even when it means alienating a constituency that had been very much for her.