And although I do not think President and Senator Clinton are out and out klanspeople (obviously an exaggeration), it is undeniable that the Clintons (and Obama) played subtle racial politics during the primary. It doesn't even matter who did it first. It was going to happen. Neither side is perfect here. Hell, it has been said that Clinton played the 'gender card' by crying in New Hampshire. None of this matters now. Like I've said so many times, someone was going to lose.

I am glad Bill Clinton is speaking at the convention, and I hope Hillary Clinton does too. I like both of them very much.

This is the absolute worst of identity politics here. This is liberalism gone wrong.

I'm very moved by your deeply human appraisal of this internecine war between the two camps of the Democratic party. The issues here are not simple, as some intemperate commenters would like them to be. I supported Hillary strongly, I will be voting for Obama no matter what, but I wish he could find it in his heart to pick the best-qualified Vice-President, who would bring along with her (yes, *her*) one of the wisest and most effective advocates for working people we have ever seen, Bill Clinton. Who *cares* what the media would say, so *what* with all the soap-opera scenarios: Obama is a young man and not so experienced, therefore let him put the country first, and assemble the very best governing team he can. That doesn't mean Bayh or Keane or even Biden: it means Hillary and Bill. Has anyone noticed the magnitude of the job in front of us? Or what an economic and foreign policy tar baby the next President will inherit? You'd better have the complete A-team in the White House, or you *will* be saying hello to President Petraus in 2012.

Thank you, Joan, for remaining tolerant and communicative despite so many real vile and stupid comments on your fair-minded commentary during these primary months and since.

I'm very moved by your deeply human appraisal of this internecine war between the two camps of the Democratic party. The issues here are not simple, as some intemperate commenters would like them to be. I supported Hillary strongly, I will be voting for Obama no matter what, but I wish he could find it in his heart to pick the best-qualified Vice-President, who would bring along with her (yes, *her*) one of the wisest and most effective advocates for working people we have ever seen, Bill Clinton. Who *cares* what the media would say, so *what* with all the soap-opera scenarios: Obama is a young man and not so experienced, therefore let him put the country first, and assemble the very best governing team he can. That doesn't mean Bayh or Keane or even Biden: it means Hillary and Bill. Has anyone noticed the magnitude of the job in front of us? Or what an economic and foreign policy tar baby the next President will inherit? You'd better have the complete A-team in the White House, or you *will* be saying hello to President Petraus in 2012.

Thank you, Joan, for remaining tolerant and communicative despite so many real vile and stupid comments on your fair-minded commentary during these primary months and since.

OK, sorry for the name-calling, but, really, you're all missing the point. Joan, when you say...

I'm not sure demonizing the Clintons as racist was necessary to elect Barack Obama, or to turn back Hillary Clinton.

there's an underlying assumption that (1) it was the Obama camp that did the demonizing and (2) that this was calculated strategy.

I'm disappointed you aren't accurately fingering the culprit, which is the press, who went orgasmic over the Clintons as racist. Many, many of us Obama supporters defended Clinton on these charges, at least at the beginning, mostly because most of us were diehard (Bill) Clinton fans in the nineties. The rest of your paragraph attests to the reason that the Obama camp did not want race injected into the campaign for any reason:

Maybe it will turn out that it was. But it came at a huge cost, one that is still being paid, as you can see in polls showing Obama has less support from self-stated Democrats than the apostate John McCain has from Republicans.

It has been crystal clear to me all along that Obama had only to lose when race was brought up, even slyly, even supposedly to be defended against racism. The unexpected results in NH, where the so-called Bradley Effect was pushed by the media was among the first instances where he had to step out of his preferred "post-racial" position, and the "shuck and jive" comments by BC, followed by the Jesse Jackson and other stuff, all did nothing but harm Obama. HE HAD NOTHING TO GAIN. Many of us have been screaming this all along.

The media love this story, and you are part of it. This particular column of yours will get hundreds of responses, and the cable programs are no different. Pushing the Clintons-as- racist meme is sexy and unexpected and ripe with potential (an exploding, pink-faced Bill?) I have sympathy for him. I don't believe he is racist, although I think the Clintons are capable of using race (as any other demographic) in the game of realpolitik. My take is that the comments were innocent at the beginning but the whole storyline took on a life of its own and each camp adjusted, flexibly, to each new charge and media blast.

I have great sympathy for Bill Clinton, whose image has been tarnished yet again for something that was just out of his grasp in terms of responsibility. By that I mean, he wasn't entirely in control of the consequences that rocked his world after making a move that indeed was in his control. By now he should know that he is a giant in the media whose every move and word is magnified for all.

I genuinely feel bad for him, but his frustration at the charges and his desire to right the perception has him making things worse. It was pure tragedy, seeing him protest, "I am not a racist." Surely I am not the only one who thought of Nixon, hang-dog defensive, proclaiming, "I am not a crook."