Joe Conason - Was Hillary channeling George Wallace?

[Mass]

JOe Conason, who is a big fan of the Clintons, has an editorial on Clinton's latest moves, urging her not to dirty her legacy and her husband by tactics that are against her principles.

A good read, that I know many of Clinton's supporters here will miss, sadly. http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/05/09/clinton_remarks/index.html

[beachmom]

1. Thanks for posting. Look at this part:

The tragedy is that neither Clinton carries even the slightest racial animus, as their many African-American friends and colleagues would testify, no doubt. Bill Clinton's first and most dedicated political adversary in Arkansas was "Justice Jim" Johnson, a Klan-backed Democrat turned Republican who was that state's version of Wallace. The Clintons spent years working to defeat Johnson and everything he represented, and he repaid them with years of plotting, scheming and smearing as a cog in the Arkansas Project. He hated them, first and foremost, because they represented the Democratic Party's rejection of white supremacy in the South. As governor, it was Bill Clinton who erased the last vestiges of Jim Crow from the Arkansas Constitution.

So the Clintons probably understand the essential evil of racism better than most white politicians. They have certainly done more than most of today's white politicians to combat that evil. That is why, as they contemplate the conclusion of this campaign, they deserve better from themselves than to encourage doubt about their decency and character.

So, in the name of power, they are willing to throw away that exemplary reputation. It just makes you shake your head.

[TexasObserver]

2. The George Wallace comparison is the one I've made many times.

Not since 1972 have we had someone pretending to be a Democrat, trying to gain our nomination, and who ultimately had as his purpose assuring that our nominee LOSE in the fall.

She's definitely channeling 1972 Wallace.

[TahitiNut]

3. You and me both. I lived in Wallace's Alabama. I've heard this shit before.

It's unmistakable. :puke:

[TexasObserver]

4. It was the same constituency they were appealing to in 1972

I can remember fighting the Wallacites, we called them, all over Texas. They were especially strong in East Texas, from Beaumont-Port Arthur to Texarkana to DFW back down to Houston. They played the same themes. Back then, it was unhappiness with integration of schools and concern about "black outside agitators."

Enough! I'll no sooner tolerate this kind of thing than anti-semitic calls by a candidate. In my view, this latest direction of Hillary's is the kind of thing that has to be booed down, to let the world know we won't tolerate this kind of prejudice in our party.