Hillary Throws Blacks Under The Bus

Hillary Clinton on May 8, 2008. “Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard working Americans, white Americans is weakening again and whites who had not completed college are supporting me.” Remember, this isn’t a quote from some jacked up surrogate or supporter, this is straight from the candidate’s mouth. It’s on tape to a USA reporter (or the Clintons would be claiming she was misquoted) and was intended for public dissemination.
There is no question in my mind this ugly observation is a last ditch appeal to superdelegates and it is intended to convey the following. Barack Obama will lose to John McCain in the fall because a significant number of white people will simply not vote for an African-American for president. White people who have not completed college are mostly red neck bozos and are even less likely to vote for a black man, so deal with it. Also please note the reference to …”working, hard working, white Americans” I think it’s fair to say Clinton is attempting to play to some ugly stereotype of welfare queens and freeloaders. (Nice view of the great unwashed from the bell tower at Wellesley, Hillary).
The very same dumb, bitter white folks clinging to their guns and bibles are much more likely to vote for me in November than Sen. Obama. So unless you want to see the Democratic Party kick away another election, disregard the fact Obama has won this thing fair and square and think electability. Any questions so far?
There’s no question here Hillary and her advisors are playing the race card. Thanks to Bill Clinton’s Jesse Jackson remark after South Carolina and other gaffes, the Clintons have lost the strong support they once had with blacks while Obama has successfully made his case. On average, African-American voters have been 90-10 for Sen. Obama.
But here’s the question. Does Hillary playing the race card make her a racist? Or has she simply identified her electoral strengths and weaknesses and is attempting to make them work for her? Yes and no. Her statement has clearly offended blacks and white liberals weary from years of Republican efforts pitting racial and economic groups against each other. Clinton is also arrogantly assuming African-Americans would support her in the fall in the very unlikely event she is the nominee. I’m hear to tell you they will likely vote Democrat in the fall but not if it’s Hillary. They’ll sit it out.
But here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Is it fair and even expected when minorities vote their race and consider it the primary factor in evaluating a candidate? Is the fact that a white person would have absolutely no chance of being elected to anything in cities like Detroit or Newark any different than the exclusionary voting patterns in the South only a few years ago? When does racial pride become racism? Never apparently in the African-American community but it is quickly flagged in certain white enclaves. Putting it another way, it is rare to see a white candidate prevail in a minority community but many blacks are elected in white communities. We need no better example than Obama’s success this year.
When this primary season officially ends, there will be certain lingering images and observations. On the positive side will be America’s embrace of the inspiring black Senator from Illinois. Less than inspiring will be Hillary’s willingness to throw her black constituency under the bus in a pathetic attempt to convince the superdelegates it’s still a white man’s world.