Clinton's MLK remarks made many black voters in Mich. "mad as hornets"

[BeyondGeography]

'Uncommitted' vote reflects anger for some

For good reason, the media spotlight on Michigan's primary focused on a GOP contest that featured a slugfest between several major candidates.

The Rev. Nate Moody voted "uncommitted" to show support for Sen. Barack Obama.But lost in the "uncommitted" returns in the Democratic primary might be a potent message from voters such as the Rev. Nate Moody.

And it may foretell trouble for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Moody, a 51-year-old black Grand Rapids resident, was among a tide of 70 percent of the state's black voters who cast ballots Tuesday for "uncommitted." Exit polls showed nearly 75 percent of those were votes for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

...Statewide, 40 percent voted "uncommitted." Exit polls show a disproportionate percentage of blacks voted "uncommitted" in Tuesday's Democratic primary, many supporters of Sen. Barack Obama. In Grand Rapids, the total was 50 percent, with numbers exceeding that in many predominantly black precincts.

The same proved true in Detroit and Saginaw, according to Craig Ruff, senior fellow at Public Sector Consultants in Lansing. But "uncommitted" also did especially well in affluent areas such as suburban Ann Arbor, which tracks with polling in earlier primary states Iowa and New Hampshire that found Obama outpolling Clinton among the well-educated and those making more than $100,000.

"It means that with the Obama support, Michigan could well have produced a win for him," Ruff said. He said interviews he conducted with black voters revealed seething anger over remarks by Clinton that the dream of Martin Luther King was only fulfilled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- and that it "took a president to get it done."

"They were mad as hornets," Ruff said. "The anger was palpable.

"Most of the votes cast for 'uncommitted' were pro-Obama votes. But I suspect some of them were cast as an anti-Hillary vote."

Moody said friends had the same reaction as he to the King controversy. "I talked to a number of individuals who thought that was a low blow," Moody said. Moody said the remarks stirred feelings about the treatment of blacks before the civil rights movement, to which King gave his life.

"The emotional scars are still there," he said...

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/01/uncommitted_vote_reflects_ange.html

[babylonsister]

1. Here's an article that goes along with this; why people are angry,

and it's not just Clinton they're angry at:

Michigan's ability to vote was sacrificed so that the local party bosses could prove a point
by Jack Lessenberry | January 16, 2008


Well, the Michigan presidential primary is over. I am writing this before the votes are counted and have no idea who won. But I do know this: If you are a Republican, it was important and meaningful.

What voters in the GOP primary did Tuesday had a serious impact on the race, and on the candidacies of John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, the three most likely to be nominated.

If you are a Democrat, however, you were robbed of your vote. Your primary didn't count at all. Not only did the primary not count in terms of delegates, you weren't even allowed to write in a meaningless vote for the candidate you really wanted. Kazakhstan has better elections.

Congratulations, Democrats. We live in the state that has the nation's worst unemployment rate — by far — and in many ways, the biggest problems. Yet we are also the only state that was essentially robbed of a voice in choosing the Democratic presidential nominee.

That's because the ego-tripping state leaders of your party, mainly National Committeewoman Debbie Dingell and Democratic State Chairman Mark Brewer, allowed the national party to take your votes away from you. They pushed this primary, egged on a bit by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, having been both openly and privately warned that they would be punished. The Democratic National Committee had decided that no state could have a primary or a caucus before Feb. 5, except for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The national party told Michigan's party leaders that if they broke the rules, Michigan would lose its delegates.

They did it anyway, and got sent to their room without supper. Now you could argue this was too harsh, and I would agree. The Republican Party punished Michigan in a more temperate way. They took half the state's GOP delegates away, but let the primary go forward otherwise. National Democrats took no prisoners. They 1) took all the state's delegates away, 2) urged the candidates to take their names off the ballot, and 3) asked them not to campaign here.

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12182

[Rageneau]

2. If Hillary's MLK comments made people in Michigan mad, those people need a head soak.

Anybody who interpreted Hillary's MLK remarks as racist is a self-generated sorehead. Only someone who is seeking a phoney reason to be offended could pretend to be offended by them. To accuse her of racism is race-baiting, pure and simple -- and for a purely political purpose.

People with sore heads should not be running or reporting on presidential campaigns. They should cool off their heads by soaking them.

[Bluerthanblue]

3. Hillary's use of MLK in her remark was "purely political"-

You cannot dictate how people recieve a remark.

Regardless of the intent- If her remark caused offense to her audience- SHE should acknowledge what her statement did, and seek to clarify, or reconcile.
I completely understood, and agreed with Bill Clinton's statement about what "the meaning of is- is".

I completely understand how people were offended by HRC's poorly constructed comment contrasting Obama and MLKjr.

No one need soak their head. All might do well to watch their tongue, and to consider their choice of words carefully.

[dionysus]

5. yeah, how DARE those negros be offended!

:eyes:

[wintersoulja]

6. lol

Kudos on the high entertainment value here!
If youre gonna inject race, be prepared to suffer the
consequences. Its going to be harder and harder for the Wal-Marts to
hide their nature on the subject, simply because WHITE SUPREMACY
has always been under the sheets of modern candidates with broad support
from desired demographics. Why do you think BLACKS GET DISENFRANCHISED DISPROPORTIONATELY?
Must be their fault, somehow...

[redqueen]

4. "Many", huh.

I wonder what that means, exactly.

[Barack_America]

9. Enough to hand Hillary a pretty sound embarrassment.

The turnout overall was abysmal, but in areas with large black populations "uncommitted" nearly beat (and in some cases did beat) Hillary. Given that I know something about those counties, I'll tell you that most of these counties are still predominantly white. What does that mean? That blacks turned out in large enough numbers to overcome white voters, many of whom voted for Hillary.

[redqueen]

10. Wasn't that where there was a campaign to vote against her?

Yeah, that's organic, grassroots stuff all right.

[Barack_America]

11. Not specifically. Many democrats in the state were encouraging voters...

To vote "uncommitted" in order to protest the worthless primary.

But then again Granholm, our governor, went on CNN encouraging voters to vote for Hillary (and I read something else in a newspaper as well).

I'd call it a wash.

[redqueen]

13. Are you sure it wasn't specifically?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4083121

[Barack_America]

15. It couldn't be specifically...

That would qualify as "campaigning" which was illegal. But, yes, the leaders who were pushing this were Obama supporters. Also 75% of people who voted "uncommitted" told exit pollers that they would've actually voted for Obama.

[MethuenProgressive]

7. How many of those "hornets" can quote what was said?

Or are they 'mad as hornets' over what the Obama Camp claims was said?

[Barack_America]

8. Classy...n/t

[robbedvoter]

12. Like the NY boos - fabrication, speculation. 40% for 2 other candidates WHO CAMPAIGNED

(let's remember Conyers's phone calls) - not as significant as you guys are trying to make it. I am sire Hillary got a good percentage of the black vote too - or else MSM would have been all over this.

[robbedvoter]

14. They may want to consider this too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4094571