Listen to Bill Clinton on how the Obama campaign played the race card!

[candice]

The Obama campaign was able to twist South Carolina political history into a "racial" attack and trash Bill Clinton early on. Kind of similar to to some of the "racism" that colors Obama's biographies as the source of his despair, which in reality was caused by his missing parents.

Trying to portray the Clintons, of all people, as racists is what made me highly suspicious of Barack Obama's campaign. Just a little investigation led me to Axelrod's previous ad campaign of "hope," "change," "aspiration," etc., for Deval Patrick's run for the governorship of Mass.


Listen to Clinton:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsrGUTcEUc

Then read a bit about how Obama has recast his life story to emphasize race in retrospect:


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0703250359mar25,1,6124597.story?coll=chi-news-hed




But the reality of Obama's narrative is not that simple.

More than 40 interviews with former classmates, teachers, friends and neighbors in his childhood homes of Hawaii and Indonesia, as well as a review of public records, show the arc of Obama's personal journey took him to places and situations far removed from the experience of most Americans.

At the same time, several of his oft-recited stories may not have happened in the way he has recounted them. Some seem to make Obama look better in the retelling, others appear to exaggerate his outward struggles over issues of race, or simply skim over some of the most painful, private moments of his life.
The handful of black students who attended Punahou School in Hawaii, for instance, say they struggled mightily with issues of race and racism there. But absent from those discussions, they say, was another student then known as Barry Obama.
In his best-selling autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," Obama describes having heated conversations about racism with another black student, "Ray." The real Ray, Keith Kakugawa, is half black and half Japanese. In an interview with the Tribune on Saturday, Kakugawa said he always considered himself mixed race, like so many of his friends in Hawaii, and was not an angry young black man.
He said he does recall long, soulful talks with the young Obama and that his friend confided his longing and loneliness. But those talks, Kakugawa said, were not about race. "Not even close," he said, adding that Obama was dealing with "some inner turmoil" in those days.
"But it wasn't a race thing," he said. "Barry's biggest struggles then were missing his parents. His biggest struggles were his feelings of abandonment. The idea that his biggest struggle was race is ."

[Hugabear]

1. Of course he won South Carolina. Black people always do well in South Carolina

That's basically what Bill said.

Even if it wasn't racist, it was still condescending as hell.

[candice]

3. Bill was talking about South Carolina politics and the differences in white support...

Jesse got more blue-collar white voters than Obama whose white S.C. supporters were among the culturally elite. I met such a woman at a Charleston Historical Society gift store. She was switching from Bu$h and found Obama's speeches so inspiring. I hadn't tuned in yet, and usually just go with the nominee, but then when I did a comparison, I just couldn't fall for the "hope" "change" ad campaign. Nice suit, nice speech, but the country has just suffered by having an unqualified president. I would have supported Obama after he showed what a hard worker he was in the Senate, but the Senate bored the "rock star." When Obama said he'd hire qualified help to make up for his lack of experience, I jumped off his bandwagon.

"Obama: Star Power, Minor Role"


http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120891044439036617-lMyQjAxMDI4MDI4MzkyMTMwWj.html

[michaz]

2. I no longer want to hear anything that Bill Clinton says! n/t