Letters to the Editor
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I think you should work for the Clinton Campaign
Oh wait...
You already are!
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What divide?
The divide concocted by bloggers who suddenly latched on to yet another meaningless non-issue? That divide?
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the real question is can any one person heal the racial divide
not in a million years.
Can a white person heal it? Other than by abolishing ALL institutionalized racialism as it still exists in school funding and the way sentencing and legal justice is served, which no white person with power Democrat or Republican has yet offered to do,I doubt they can.
Maybe if it wasn't an election year and this were more on message you might hear Clinton giving a speech with wonky suggestions of how to heal injustice gap. but I don't think we're going to see it this year.
sorry. I'm feeling terribly cynical today.
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Say What You Mean
"I think it's a little easy to assume that something she says would actually have that much affect"
Y'know, I don't think you meant what you wrote here, but nonetheless, I agree wholeheartedly.
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not only is she not healing the racial divide ...
... but it appears that surrogates for her campaign are behind robocalls in North Carolina aimed at tricking African-Americans into thinking that they aren't registered.
An organization called Women's Voices Women Vote, whose board is filled with Clinon allies, has confessed and apologized for the "confusion".
To quote from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/30/11055/6499/141/506343 :
N.C. residents have reported receiving peculiar automated calls from someone claiming to be "Lamont Williams." The caller says that a "voter registration packet" is coming in the mail, and the recipient can sign it and mail it back to be registered to vote. No other information is provided.
Note the deadline for registering has passed, and registered voters are getting these calls.
The organization has used similar tactics in many other states.
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What's the upside for Hillary?
While I agree it would reveal a great deal of Hillary Clinton's potential for leadership if she stood up and made a speech concerning race and gender issues in America, it's never going to happen, and that reveals still more about what leadership qualities she actually has.
The problem for Hillary in this instance is that there's no upside for her. Rather than see this as a moment to step up and demonstrate real ability to cut to the heart of thorny issues, it's clear she'd rather "make hay while the sun is shining." She used Wright as a bludgeon against Obama before -- and it's her campaign's doing that Wright became an issue in the first place -- and she's far more likely to do that again than something constructive.
Unfortunately the purely political mind thinks first only in terms of votes gained and lost, and if all evidence is to be believed, Hillary's is a profoundly political mind. Issues of the greater good will always be secondary.
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Would a speech from Clinton on RACE help? No!
Are you kidding? After the type of campaign she's ran and the comments her surrogates have made. Spare me.
No a speech from her would be a waste of time and a further slap in the face. We'll pass. Thanks anyway.
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proofreading?
Well, first "very little affect"? Don't you mean "very little effect."
Well, it's obvious what YOU think -- you think Sen. Clinton would never sacrifice political capitol to make an ethical point. Do you think Senator Obama has been vocal about the vicious sexism in the campaign?
I'd like to see Sen. Clinton talk about racism, and Sen. Obama talk about sexism, but I'm not holding my breath. BOTH of them are politicians.
Susan McgGee
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Would a speech from Clinton on RACE help?
Considering her campaign has used race as a blunt-force weapon a speech from Hillary Clinton would do nothing more than enhance her already scummy reputation as a do anything to win, stoop to any level hack.
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Clinton on race
If Hillary wants to do something about the racial divide she should:
1. give up the race for the nomination.
2. divorce Bill.
3. do penance.
4. retire to private life and leave us all alone.
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The Candidate of Divisiveness Playing Healer? No Thanks...
Senator Clinton made a decision at some point that winning this nomination for herself required divisive tactics. In the midst of that campaign, for her to make a speech about healing divides, only reminds me poignantly of sly race politics and islamophobia employed by her and her campaign staff.
(And no, I am not an Obamaniac, not even much of a fan, so please don't dismiss the point.)
Senator Clinton does not have the credibility now to talk about healing racial divides or partisan divides.
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Huh? Hillary should do what?
First of all, the editorial section of the Wall Street Journal is essentially a bullhorn for the propaganda coming (primarily) out of the Heritage Foundation. So I don't take it very seriously. But anyway...
Hillary Clinton is unlikely to say anything directly about race or gender. Why? Because they both work in her favor. She benefits from the votes of women, and she benefits from the votes of whites who are, if not racist, then let's say "uneasy" about the idea of a black or biracial nominee. Clinton doesn't want to do anything that might cause her to have less of those benefits.
I had an interesting dinner conversation last night with an older woman who insisted that all women should vote for Hillary Clinton. She said that Barack Obama should have "waited his turn," and that she felt it was rude of Obama to "ruin things" for Hillary. She definitely felt that Hillary's time as First Lady counted as experience for being president, and she felt that Obama didn't have any experience at all (she didn't really know that Obama was in the Illinois legislature or any of his other qualifications).
There is definitely an inchoate feeling in a lot of women, particularly older women, that Hillary Clinton's nomination is something she should automatically have, and that Obama is a hostile upstart who has gotten in the way. I think a lot of women identify strongly with Hillary, both in terms of how she sets an example as an accomplished woman, and in terms of all the ways she's been discriminated against and mistreated over the years. It also seems that Hillary's moist-eyed moment after Iowa really, really resonated with women, because the woman I was talking to last night quoted back some of those words, and said she thought Hillary cared deeply about America, while Obama did not.
In case you're wondering, I was completely genial in talking to her, as it was a dinner group and we were all in a good mood. I did present my points, and we all ended up agreeing to disagree about things. Then, we turned to discussion of Bush and his policies, as well as his "Deal or No Deal" appearance (which had a ring of desperation to it), and we all ended up getting along and laughing and having a good time.
Yes, it's true: Obama supporters and Clinton supporters CAN get along. Neither Obama nor Clinton are evil. Neither exist just to sabotage the other. There's no reason for everybody to fight. And arguments over sex and race tend to be side shows.