The Clintons Campaign Strategy: "We're White Like You...He's Not"

[David Zephyr]

Let's not tiptoe around the elephant in the living room anymore. We do not all suffer from collective amnesia. It's time to have the discussion that needs to be had. After all, it's obvious to everyone now and the evidence is simply overwhelming.

When even the corporate media shills admit that they are embarrassed by the continued race-baiting coming either directly from the Clintons themselves or indirectly through their campaign sock-puppets, you know that the proverbial cat is long out of the bag: The Clintons apparently have no problem with reminding voters in state after state that they are white and Senator Obama is not. In fact, they seem down right cozy doing so now.

The signs had always been there, I'd just ignored them. Bill Clinton, when pushed to the wall, always could quickly play the race card if it would help him out politically: You might ask Sister Souljah or Joycelyn Elders, or Ricky Ray Rector...well, you can't exactly ask poor old Ricky Ray because he is dead. You see, Bill flew back to Arkansas from a campaign event to execute him to show he wasn't soft on crime. No sir, Bill's just hard on a mentally impaired men.

So here we are in 2008, with a prominent Democrat couple, not Republicans, who never seem to miss an opportunity to interject race back into the public forum when it might help them.

And in spite of the fact the Clintons have changed their campaign message more times than David Duke changes sheets, the one single constant here is that the Clintons do play the race card.

Let's review just a few of facts in this sordid history, shall we?

It began early on in Iowa where Hillary's campaign under Mark Penn was caught several times e-mailing voters that Obama was a Muslim. A black Muslim.

New Hampshire followed with the Clinton's state chair, Bill Shaheen, who resigned only after he wickedly suggested that Barack was not only a drug user, but perhaps a drug dealer. A black drug dealer.

On to Nevada where the Clintons got caught working this line: "Latinos won't vote for a black man". When asked about it, Hillary replied, "It's a fact."

Clinton supporter, New Yorker Andrew Cuomo, warned Barack Obama not to "shuck and jive" to the American people.

And then came South Carolina, where the racist language and innuendo from the Clinton camp directed to white voters there was culminated with Bill Clinton's gratuitous and jaw-dropping racial comparison that "Jesse Jackson had won this state."

By the time Ohio rolled around, stoking up old fears among white voters, became their trump card. And as Pennsylvania loomed, Clinton's top campaign figure there, Ed Rendell, lost no time in stating that "white voters in Pennsylvania will never vote for a black man."

Who can ever forget Hillary's calculated response to a most bewildered Steve Kroft of CBS's "60 Minutes" program when he asked her if she actually believed that Barack was a Muslim since her campaign was suggesting it to be so: "No. No. Why would I?" she said. "No, there is nothing to base that on, as far as I know." How many of you cringed with me upon hearing her utter those words?

And the Clinton operatives seemed to never miss a step to remind voters: 'she's white and he's black.' It has been the single constant mantra of every spokesperson for the Clintons from Mark Penn, James Carville, Howard Wolfson, Lannie Davis, and of course, that grand old bigot, Geraldine Ferraro.

I've lived long enough to just about have seen it all:

I've now seen one Democratic southern white governor who stirred the racist pot for years only later to repent and speak out against the evils of racism. He ended his career on a higher note railing against racism, be it overt or covert. That would be former Governor George Corely Wallace.

And I've now seen another Democratic southern white governor who with his charming sophistry claimed to be the friend to those of color, but who has now ended his career on a very, very low note and proving to the American people that he has a real talent for stirring that old racist pot. That would be former Governor William Jefferson Clinton.

I always thought that the "Jefferson" was for Thomas Jefferson. However, now I think that Jefferson Davis would be more appropriate.

[lisa58]

1. they are a terrible disappointment, aren't they?

[PoliticalAmazon]

31. Condensed, their message is: "Whites good, blacks bad." n/t

[David Zephyr]

33. Yes, lisa58. And they have stained our proud party.

I would recommend the film "Primary Colors" or reading the book. I willingly closed my eyes for many years to this couple's cynical and manipulating ways. No longer.

[jasmine621]

46. Obama strategy: "I'm black. She's not. vote for me."

Obama strategy working well. He gets over 90% of the black vote everywhere. Yet the Clintons are accused of racism, playing the race card. The Black Caucus members for the most part have lost my respect for the strong-arm tactics used by Jesse Jackson Jr. and others against fellow blacks who still support Hillary. And, what has happened to Tavis Smiley over this bull crap is really sad. Obama is destroying the party by not coming out strongly and using his very expensive bully pulpit to denounce such behavior but he has chosen not to but to use such unwarranted sentiment to further his "blind political ambitions" (sorry...that is supposed to be used just for Hillary, isn't it?)

[PoliticalAmazon]

58. Lie. Obama has not "pulled a Hillary" and pandered to bigots. n/t

[mod mom]

61. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Sen Obama has attempted to stay focused on the issues. It was the Clintons (both & campaign) who has attempted to make it an issue. You might recall that Hillary had a large % of Af Am support early in the race and her smear gutter tactics are causing her to lose it.

I believe she is actually playing along w Rush in order to get the ugly racist vote. You might want to read this:



Rush Limbaugh Claims Victory in Pennsylvania

Posted April 25, 2008 | 04:47 PM (EST)

While the title might sound odd, Limbaugh's insatiable ego will not allow him to resist tarnishing Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions with a strong dose of reality -- as well as his confession to his personal involvement in corrupting the presidential election.

The backstory is riveting. In March, Limbaugh launched his infamous, "Operation Chaos," a devious anti-democratic plan devised to undermine the Democratic presidential nominee who he believes will be: Senator Barack Obama. In several of his broadcasts, Limbaugh implored his legions of devout right-wing followers to cast aside their Republican inhibitions and vote in the Democratic primaries for Obama's rival: Senator Hillary Clinton.

Limbaugh's rationale? Obama's momentum had morphed into a genuine grassroots movement, and it had to be stopped at all costs - even unto the gross hypocrisy of asking die-hard Republicans to change their party registrations and cast their malicious votes for Hillary Clinton to poison Obama's candidacy.

Is Limbaugh's plot to defeat the first African-American candidate for the presidency: (A) insidious or (B) nefarious? Probably, both.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-carmichael/rush-limbaugh-claims-vict_b_98652.html

▪ What might have actually happened in Ohio and Texas? Tin foil hat?
▪ Clip:
: "Rush, I understand that the Rush Limbaugh audience is mobilizing in Texas for Hillary. Am I hearing that right?"

: "I don't know if the audience is mobilizing or not. I am urging people — I am using a phrase — the Republicans — our nominee is chosen. It's John McCain.

Texas is open. And I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura. This is too good a soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don't have the stomach for it.

As you probably know, we're getting all kinds of memos from the RNC saying not to be critical there. Mark MacKinnon of McCain's campaign says he'll quit if they get critical over Obama.

This is the presidency of the United States you're talking about. I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose. They're in the midst of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch, and it's all going to stop if Hillary loses.

So yes, I'm asking to cross over and, if they can stomach it — I know it's a difficult thing to do to vote for a Clinton — but it will sustain this soap opera, and it's something I think we need. It would be fun, too."

http://www.thomhartmann.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=609&Itemid=113

[liberalcommontater]

79. Civility is a virtue...

and I feel like I just lost mine. Clinton in ka-hoots with Limbaugh. You, my fine democratic friend, are a hysterical idiot.

Sorry about the name calling. (But it's the truth.)

[ekwhite]

68. That is just racist bullshit

I guess you missed the speech where he said, "there is not a white America or a black America, but the United States of America."

The Clinton's have been using egregious dog-whistle racism since the beginning of the campaign, and you accuse HIM of being racist. What's the matter, is he getting too 'uppity' for you?

[liberalcommontater]

80. Anyone who uses race to divide and conquer

is a big time loser, even if that person is black.

[ekwhite]

99. Except it isn't the black person that is doing it. N/T

[liberalcommontater]

102. I think so.

This does not make it so, but I don't get racism from Bill's remarks. I don't see it serving their cause at all even if I were purely cynical about them.

[cali]

108. here's how and why they played race politics

It started even before SC, but in SC they saw the writing on the wall and attempted to frame Obama as akin to Jesse Jackson, a politician that most white Americans view as decisive and a fringe minority figure. Why? Because in so doing they *could* reduce his appeal to the MAJORITY white vote in upcoming primaries. Obama had no reason to play "the race card"- AAs are only 13% of the country. He has to appeal to the majority and he damn well knew it.

[liberalcommontater]

114. I see this line of reasoning as self destructive for Clinton

and that is why I find it impossible to believe. Call me naive, but the "bigot" vote cannot be larger than the solid African-American vote. Additionally, Obama is doing fine among many white voters. I don't think most would have a problem voting for a black candidate unless they disagreed with him.

I am admittedly not as cynical as many about the Clintons.

[cali]

116. well, it's worked many times, and it's not so much about going

for the bigot vote as going for the vast middle who are easily shied by anything different anyway. Most white Americans simply don't think well of Jesse Jackson. They think he's too radical, too black, in short. Maybe that does make them bigots.

[DogPoundPup]

129. NO It Isn't...here's why.........

[emilyg]

75. Yep. But we're supposed to close our eyes to that.

Beware - you'll be called a racist on DU.

[ekwhite]

77. If you post racist crap, damn right I'll call you a racist N/T

[liberalcommontater]

78. Hillary has no need to pander to bigots.

Obama was the one late last year who needed the boost. Injecting race only helped Obama. Look here!

http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php
http://www.pollster.com/08-GA-Dem-Pres-Primary.php

So, it does not make any sense that Clinton would inject race. In fact, it only makes sense that she did not.

New politics, same as the old politics from the Obama folks.

[ekwhite]

84. Hillary had no need to pander to bigots

But she did it anyway. The fact that it didn't make sense makes what she did even worse.

[liberalcommontater]

89. If she is so smart and calculating why would she do it?

Where is the benefit?

[ekwhite]

98. I think she calculated the AA vote was out of reach

She decided to throw them under the bus to reach out to the racist white vote. The same thing Bill Clinton did to Sister Souljah.

[liberalcommontater]

100. Look at these charts

and tell me alienating the most solid of democratic constituencies in favor of the bigot vote was a plausible strategy. I don't buy it. Especially since the democratic nominee is going to need the black vote in the fall. Hillary was doing fine and in no need of courting the bigot vote, if such exists. Obama on the other hand needed the black vote and had an easy and clear path to getting it. Do you really think, if there is such a thing as the bigot vote, that the bigots would buy Clinton abandoning African-Americans and turning to them? Twisted logic at best.


http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php
http://www.pollster.com/08-GA-Dem-Pres-Primary.php

[ekwhite]

124. Just because the strategy backfired on her doesn't mean that wasn't her strategy to begin with

That is akin to saying that because Napoleon's strategy at Waterloo was disastrous, that wasn't his strategy to begin with.

[liberalcommontater]

131. Good point

Yet, I disagree.

[liberalcommontater]

115. I don't remember the exact issues surrounding Sister Soljah, but

I remember at the time agreeing with Bill. I don't see the two as even remotely alike. Why can't you disagree with or criticize without being criticized yourself as a racist?

[cali]

109. to frame Obama as the fringe minority candidate who couldn't appeal

to white voters in the contests following SC

[guyanakoolaid]

125. She is indeed calculating. Just not smart. Explains the reasoning for her repeated pro-war votes.

[liberalcommontater]

132. I have less difficulty with the "pro war" votes

as you call them because we do have soldiers in the field.

What I really have a problem with is the lack of accountability and a slow steady drive toward and through impeachment.

These guys are criminals at worst and power hungry abusers at best.

It needs to end in November.

[RaleighNCDUer]

104. Absurd.

He took Iowa at a time when the only race injected in it was Penn's emails, and proved that moderate white voters WOULD vote for him based on his message. It was her massive loss in Iowa that prompted her to focus on making him the 'black candidate'. It has been an exercise in futility, as it has cost her more than it gained her, but it does prove that she has a political tin ear - too much listening to people like Penn and Carville.

Do you really think that HE went into Iowa and NH saying "Vote for me, I'm black!"?

[DevonRex]

2. The Clintons are disgusting. K&R nt

[Joe Bacon]

69. Hillary Clinton = Lurleen Wallace

And Bill is gonna "call the shots". No thanks.

[liberalcommontater]

83. I will try to stick to facts and not emotion...

No they're not!

[papau]

3. Obama smear - again - the race of Obama is "faculty lounge"and he can't relate to $50k white workers

[Skidmore]

5. Bill Clinton, son of the South, knows exactly what he is doing and

chooses his language with care. He has shown over and over again that he is willing to resurrect the Southern Strategy and use it. He is a craven disappointment.

[David Zephyr]

29. Skidmore, that's the thing. Bill does, as you say, "chooses his language with care."

This has gone on far too long and the weight of the evidence of the pattern is too heavy to pass off.

It was intentional and Bill is a very shrewd politician who "chooses his language with care."

The Clintons have opened Pandora's Box with race within the Democratic Party. That is simply unforgivable.

[DAGDA56]

10. You tried this same shit yesterday...and let me remind you again

today that I am a white worker making less than $50k and I relate very well to Senator Obama. The only smear going on in this post is yours.

[juno jones]

14. Shh! Don't give us away. If everyone sees how easy it is being

utterly elite on an hourly wage, then they'll wanna do it too. Then where would we be?

Seriously. I'm a white woman approaching the middle age faster than I would like and I make 13 grand a year. I think Obama rocks.

This crap trying to pigeonhole white voters into stereotypes is actually starting to offend me. It's fucking racist AND classist.

[eridani]

42. But Clinton, with 10 times his net worth, can? Explain that n/t

[ekwhite]

76. Horseshit

You call any attempts to point out the negative campaigning of the Clinton camp 'smears, while trying to push the 'Obama is an elitist' meme. That make work with 'low information voters,' but it certainly is not going to work with me.

Let's look at a few facts, shall we, or are you allergic to those?

Hillary Rodham Clinton was the daughter of a successful businessman who grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, a wealthy Chicago suburb.

Barack Obama was raised by a single mother who financially struggled at times.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have a net worth over $100 million.

The Obamas now have a net worth of around $4 million, due to income from his book, but until recently they were still paying off their college loans.

Obama is generally known as a decent and likeable fellow.

Hillary Clinton is notorious for treating her employees badly, screaming at Arkansas State Troopers, for example.

From where I sit, it is the Clinton's who are elitists. This is classic Karl Rove tactics - accuse your opponent of your own failings.

[RaleighNCDUer]

107. Oh, that's right - the guy who just finished paying off his student loans

is the elitist, and it's Hundred Million Hillary who's in touch with the common folk.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[redqueen]

4. Ugh.

On to Nevada where the Clintons got caught working this line: "Latinos won't vote for a black man". When asked about it, Hillary replied, "It's a fact."

I missed that one before.



Clinton supporter, New Yorker Andrew Cuomo, warned Barack Obama not to "shuck and jive" to the American people.

*sigh* I forgot about that one. :(

[BootinUp]

6. Its all Hillary's fault, I am sure her ancestors had something to do

with starting racism in ancient times. lol. Its all her fault that the Obama fans MADE an issue of race out of nothing.

[NOLALady]

13. Hey.

Leave her ancestors out of it.

I'm sure some of them were not racists.

[butterfly77]

19. Are you forgetting that..

he is white also..

[chill_wind]

7. K&R. Whew, there's some powerfully good posting going on tonite

that's getting straight to the truth.

Kick, kick, kick.

[David Zephyr]

32. Thanks.

You know, compiling the many, many instances of the Clintons' exercising the wedge of race among white voters, it really becomes sickening to confront. I actually left out several other examples because the list was growing too long and the point was clearly made: they are doing a very wicked thing and I will not ever forget how low they have taken my beloved Democratic Party.

[Usrename]

73. The worst and by far the most abominable offense is over his church!

I cannot fathom the depths of their depravity.

Only monsters would do what they are doing to that church.

It's beyond heartbreaking to watch them do this.

[kwenu]

8. And they are losing.

[psychmommy]

9. i agree.

they have run the nastiest and most poorly managed campaign ever. i am tired of the media shoving them down my throat. they blew it once, you don't get a 2nd chance to humiliate us.

[liberalcommontater]

82. Obama is the one who has gotten the free ride until

recently. Perhaps you folks are of the variety that thinks a black person can be racist?

And I thought we were all dems.

One equal temper of heroic hearts...and all that.

[Raine]

11. Agree, it's very sad that

they willingly stoop this low for their own selfish ambitions. :-(

[Catherina]

12. This afternoon at the post office, an old White Lady warmed my heart

We started chatting in line after I admired the pretty jacket her daughter bought her. This woman was about 80 years old. Right before the conversation ended, I asked if she was following the Presidential elections and if she was backing anyone.

"You know who I like, it's that young fellow, Oba what's his name".

I almost kissed her feet right there in the Post Office.

It's a damn lie when HRC and her surrogates say American Whites or the Elderly won't vote for Obama. They're hiding their own racism behind other people. Let other people do what they want to without constantly, satanically whispering in their ears "he's not like us". When Bill Clinton said "Next, We’ll See Him Run an Ad Saying: Vote For Me, I Don’t Steal Cars", the last scales fell from my eyes.

The played with a dangerous fire and got burned because most of America is past the dirty rat-hole the Clintons are stuck in and drew back horrified. I'm thankful to most of America for not playing their hateful game and thankful for people like you who call a spade a spade.

[David Zephyr]

22. Thanks for the inspiring story, Catherina.

:)

[Catherina]

34. I wanted to share it because it made me feel so good

and your thread gave me the perfect opening. It was especially nice to share it with you. That old lady cracked me up when she said "it's that young fellow, Oba what's his name". After reading some of the broadbrushed stereotypes from some people here I was half expecting her to whack me over the head with her pocketbook or something. Whoever she was, I love her! Without knowing it, she put to lie the hysterical lies that Obama won't get older people. I'm convinced our smarter fellow Americans, regardless of age, sex, race or religion, want to see this country change. Obama is so easy to sell it's almost a crime.

My state already voted but tomorrow morning some friends and I are headed off to Republican neighborhoods (read wealthy) to start building support from across the aisle. The neighborhood we're looking at has alot of kids so we can work on them about the war from a sensible point. Also we plan to talk about the economy and what that means to their kids. Wish us luck! Maybe we'll go to nursing homes and parks later.

Spring is the season of hope and change. What better time? :hi:

[ekwhite]

81. God Bless you Catherina

You made me smile with your story. Good luck to you.

[Johnny Noshoes]

72. Bill Clinton ACTUALLY said that....

Damn he really is an ahole.

[terrell9584]

15. one thing

"shuck and jive" is not a racist term. That is a term that is in common use in Southern culture, I grew up hearing it and it is a term that refers to pulling a con job. Nothing racial about it. Then again, I have only lived in Beaumont, Biloxi and somewhere else, I'm not familiar with the north, so I don't know what kind of context it would have up there, but here, there is nothing racial about it at all.

[ekwhite]

87. More horseshit

Shuck and jive is a racist term. You are being disingenuous, at best. It specifically refers to blacks in the mid-south, where I grew up, especially North Carolina and South Carolina.

Urban Dictionary apparently agrees with me, sir.

shuck and jive


clowning, lying, pretense
"To shuck and jive" originally referred to the intentionally misleading words and actions that African-Americans would employ in order to deceive whites in power, both during the period of slavery and afterwards.

"Shucking and jiving" was a tactic of both survival and resistance. A slave, for instance, could say eagerly, "Oh, yes, Master," and have no real intention to obey. Or an African-American man could pretend to be working hard at a task he was ordered to do, but might put up this pretense only when under observation. Both would be instances of "doin' the old shuck 'n jive."

Today, the expression has expanded somewhat from earlier usage, and is now sometimes used to mean "talking pure baloney," "goofing off," or "goofing around." The original meaning of deceit often remains, however.

Rodney said he had cleaned the bathrooms already, but he was just doing the ol' shuck and jive again.

There might be alternative uses of 'shuck and jive,' but it has clearly racist origins, and it's use is another clear example of 'dog whistle racism.'

[terrell9584]

128. Ever been to Biloxi

Biloxi consists of four groups. Cajuns who are descended from people from central Louisiana who came to town in the postbellum period to work, Croatians who came to town in the 1880's to work (my daddy descends from that culture), what black population that there was in Biloxi, and it never really had a large black population until more recently, before the 1880's it was nothing more than a resort for the major cities that are in 60 miles either direction, it's why Jefferson Davis retired there, but that all changed when they began to bring in light industry once Reconstruction ended. Since the mid 1970's, Vietnamese who have also come to town, trodding the same path as the Croats and Cajuns before them. There is also a very small contingent of people who actually have non-Cajun French blood, but most of these by this point have intermarried with the people who migrated there. Hancock County, is a different story, most of Hancock County is Creole White French as opposed to Cajun French, and most of them have roots in that area that go back before the American period.

I can assure you, no one who was using it here in the 80's and 90's meant it out of racial overtones, and if you believe they did, then take it up with the creators of the Dukes of Hazzard cause they said it on that show all the time

[ekwhite]

135. The Dukes of Hazzard????

:rofl:

That was one of the most offensive programs to Southerners ever made, right up there with the Beverly Hillbillies. That is your source of reference?

[David Zephyr]

103. I grew up in the South in the 1950's. The term "shuck and jive" is loaded with race.

And Andrew Cuomo knew exactly what he was saying when he chose to employ those words in reference to Senator Obama. It was despicable.

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. 'EVEN THOUGH'

"Even though they (Perdue and Moore) are supporting Senator Obama they are good Democrats, and this ad is wrong,"


Clinton Camp Responds to NC GOP Ad (Finally!)

April 25, 2008 4:00 PM


It took hours for the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, to weigh in on the North Carolina Republican Party TV ad that calls Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, "radical" and purports to attempt to harm two Democratic Tarheel State gubernatorial candidates -- Bev Perdue and Richard Moore -- by tying them to Rev. Jeremiah Wright via Obama.

The Clinton camp was in an odd spot, after all. This ad is Exhibit A in her case to superdelegates against Obama, that he will be the victims of such smears, some of them racial. So they wouldn't necessarily want to shut it down.

On the other hand, how could they not comment on an ad so many Democratic voters find offensive? Especially after the RNC and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., decried the ad? (Not to mention the two North Carolina TV stations announcing they would not broadcast it.)

So finally, from spokesman Jay Carson, comes the response to the ad against Purdue and Moore, that seeks to more pointedly hurt Obama.

"Even though they (Perdue and Moore) are supporting Senator Obama they are good Democrats, and this ad is wrong," Carson says, in a statement sent to ABC News' Eloise Harper. "It's exactly the kind of ad Republicans run every cycle to distract us from their failures and the real issues that face our country."

That's curiously worded.

"Even though" they're supporting Obama they're good Democrats? What does that mean?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/clinton-camp-re.html

[GoesTo11]

36. OMG. Such class. She agrees the anti-Obama 97% of the ad.

[ekwhite]

90. They had to respond because John McCain already denounced it

And they come up with something like "even though they support Obama"? The Clinton campaign is still trying to milk their disgusting smear of Reverend Wright. That is just wrong.

[Elidor]

17. It's sad

It's one thing to see that someone you once admired is human and flawed, but it's quite another to see them become everything you loathe and despise. The Clintons always enjoyed heavy black support, and when Bill underwent his political crucifixion, some of the only people to defend him publicly were members of the black caucus. And now this.

I've wanted very much to not come to the same conclusions that you have, but it's very hard to explain it all as a series of coincidences. Even now, a part of me tries to offer up a sputtering defense, but finds no words to refute what is increasingly obvious.

And it's hard to come to terms with the fact that a lot of people on this board whom I respect, admire and genuinely like are enthralled by her. It's hard that my own sister sends my mother "Obama is a muslim" emails. I hate it that the divide is so deep, and the bullshit is so strong. We all deserved better than this primary, and we have the corporate media to thank once again. Hillary is only playing to the media as she's known it, after all. This is the way that game is played, and she obviously doesn't lose sleep over playing it to the hilt, beyond the bounds of what is clearly foul. She looks like a disciple of Nixon out there.

[butterfly77]

21. Why don't you send your mother emails to counteract,.,,

the lies..

[Elidor]

25. I talk to her on the phone

Believe me, she hears far more about what's going on in politics from me than she wants to. :D Plus, even though she dreads watching the news, she's a smart cookie. She sees what's going on and certainly doesn't need me to interpret things for her. She just humors me.

[KoKo]

18. Why is it that you don't put your wrath on the Repugs who are turmoiling us?

They've had years of practice at this.... Don't you remember how Gore and Kerry were trashed? Duckakis and Carter and Mondale and Johnson and the rest?

Dems eat their own...always rehashing the Repug Points and never pointing out the good that any of them did.. and Dems have DONE SOME GOOD...and if we were Repugs...we'd pick out the GOOD and EMPHASIZE THAT...rather than joining in with the Repugs in a Devil Dance when "times get tough" like ELECTIONS!

Did all our Dem Presidents to some VERY BAD THINGS..that were NOT DEMOCRATIC...that "trashed" their constituencies? YES! YES! I could recite the litany..! Is it "TIME FOR CHANGE!!!" Yes...but all our DEMS RAN ON CHANGE! It's what we DO! It's always a dollar late and a dollar short...but WHY ARE WE NOT GOING AFTER McCAIN & BUSH...instead of "EATING OUR OWN?"

Is it because you think getting rid of the Clintons will heal the party? Is it because you think Obama is better than all the OTHER DEMS that have run on his MESSAGE? "HOPE & CHANGE?"

Why is all the wrath going against the Clintons and before that it was Carter who was considered "dead" at Dem Conventions because he didn't win two terms. YET! the Repugs still talk about that poor failing mentally SAINT REAGAN and build him up so that he should be on Mt. Rushmore!

We gotta start talking about this "ILLEGAL WAR" again and holding those pantywaisted Congressional Dems to task for their not honoring "those who bring them to the dance."

We are losing our "Togetherness" to "DEVISIVENESS" over Hillary? And, who would be VERY HAPPY WITH SEEING US IMPLODE...Friend turning on Friend and Neighbor on Neighbor on an Activist Democratic Board? Just WHO would ENJOY THAT? :shrug: You tell me....:-(

[Catherina]

35. What an odd post

The only worthwhile thing you said was that "We gotta start talking about this "ILLEGAL WAR" again and holding those pantywaisted Congressional Dems to task for their not honoring "those who bring them to the dance."

What do you think the anti-Clinton movement is about? If you hate Republicans that much it should disgust you that Clinton is working with Scaife, Limbaugh and Drudge.

You seem very bitter about something you don't want to spell out.

[liberalcommontater]

85. Amen, amen, amen, amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Victory in November.
The Republicans are the enemy.
This is more important than anything.

I will vote for Obama in November because he is the democratic nominee even though I believe 100% that his side brought up the race issue because he was behind and could not get the traction he needed any other way. It is an emotional issue. But, rather than condemn him in Novemer because of it, I loathe him now and will vote for him in November because it is for the good of the country and the democrats. (Though I may need years of psychotherapy to get over it ;^)

[ekwhite]

95. Do you honestly think Hillary can beat McCain?

The Republicans have years of scandals associated with the Clintons. You don't honestly think that Whitewater, Vince Foster, Monica Lewinsky, Mena Airport, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, etc., etc., ad nauseum won't be brought up by the Republican noise machine? There are only two reasons we haven't seen these things brought up in the MSM to date:

1. Obama won't go there, for obvious reasons.

2. The Republicans and the MSM are pushing Hillary, hoping to divide the party and have her as their opponent.

If she wins, they will smear her so badly she won't be able to run for dogcatcher once they are finished.

[liberalcommontater]

101. Most of these involved Bill or

were scandals without substance. If you get a chance you should see the DVD, Hunting of the President. I think the public is tired of this kind of politics, hence the response to Obama's "new politics" and they will want to give the new President a chance. Similar to the initial attacks on Chelsea when Bill won and it stopped when the phrase "Leave Chelsea alone" caught on.

Yes, I think Hillary can beat McCain.

What I would really like to see is the primary loser campaign for the winner as if they had won. Hillary for Barak or Barak for Hillary.

[ekwhite]

126. The fact that the Swiftboat claims were false didn't help Kerry, did they? N/T

[ekwhite]

91. KoKo, Hillary did it to herself

I didn't like her before - I loathe her now. I didn't believe the Republican meme about how nasty the Clintons were before - I absolutely believe it now.

She did not have to go there. She could have run a clean and fair campaign, but she didn't. Trying to blame what she has done to divide the party on the Republicans won't wash with me. If she steals this election, the Democratic party will see the back of me, and I have been a yellow-dog Democrat since 1972.

[liberalcommontater]

133. Sorry you feel this way

The Democrats need everybody who has similar values and cares about our country to unify and support the nominee. I still don't believe 95% of what the Republicans accused the Clintons of. I happen to think Obama has played the race card, not Clinton. Regardless, I will be voting for the democratic nominee precisely because he (or she) will represent my values better than Bush has or McCain will.

Think about it.

[smiley_glad_hands]

20. There have been some very disturbing trends in the Hill campaign regarding racial undertones. eom

[invictus]

23. K & R

[cali]

24. k&r david, you summed it up well. n/t

[David Zephyr]

40. Thanks, cali.

Well, I just compiled what has transpired. Pretty sad, huh?

[democracy1st]

26. K & R

:kick:

[TexasObserver]

27. 36 years ago, George Wallace and his racists split the party to help Nixon win

In 2008, Hillary Clinton and her racists are trying to do the same thing for John McCain.

[invictus]

28. History repeats itself. n/t

[Major Hogwash]

65. It was 1968, 40 years ago. And Wallace received over 9.9 million votes.

And split the Democratic vote in two. If Wallace's votes had gone to Humphrey, he would have been the President. Humphrey was willing to pull out of Vietnam by 1970 in an orderly fashion. Instead, we got Nixon and 58,000 more men were killed in Vietnam because he "didn't want to be the first President to lose a war". The American troops were sacrificed so that Nixon could run for re-election with his famous "I've got a plan to get us out of Vietnam" slogan.

Bush is the 2nd President to lose a war, but he won't pull the troops out to keep them from being killed. Now it is obvious that Bush is sacrificing our own American troops so that he won't have to admit he lost in Iraq. Bush is a war criminal by any standards whatsoever.

[stillcool]

30. and it goes on and on and on...

Now it's just depressing as hell. Like watching a really sad drunk, begging for another drink.

[ccharles000]

37. Hillary is not racist.

I am not voting for Hillary because she is white it is because she is a strong leader.

[D23MIURG23]

62. You don't have to agree with a sentiment to use it to your advantage.

[liberalcommontater]

86. Me too!

[emilyg]

92. Same here.

[annie1]

94. and they are now trying to guilt people into voting for him. if you don't...

vote for him you must be racist. disgusting.

[Justitia]

38. David, this is an excellent post. You have really contextualized the Clinton "argument".

Great writing and you nailed it.
Everyone here needs the reminders of the actual events as they happened.
Thank you so much for the 'spot on' interpretation.

[VenusRising]

39. If you have not yet read this article, I highly recommend it.

It's a founding DLC strategy. It should be no surprise that the Clintons act out the policy of the DLC so perfectly.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/46/46_cover.html

The DLC is the corporate-funded right wing of the Democratic Party. It was founded in the mid 1980s by a small group of mostly white, male, largely southern Democratic politicians, corporate lobbyists and fundraisers. The original clique included Tennessee Congressman Al Gore, Senators Chuck Robb of Virginia and Sam Nunn of Georgia, and Al From, a former political operative from the Jimmy Carter Administration. To them, the Democratic Party had become too open to the political voices of African Americans and Latinos, too respectful of the rights of working Americans and the labor movement, too responsive to the justice, peace and environmental movements. "The DLC thundered against the 'liberal fundamentalism' of the party's base - unionists, blacks, feminists, Greens, and cause groups generally," wrote Dreyfuss.

<snip>

Breaking up the bloc

For more than two generations the vast majority of African Americans have cast ballots for Democrats, comprising that party's most loyal constituency. The black bloc vote phenomenon is the electoral expression of what we call the Black Consensus, in which African Americans support in overwhelming numbers whichever candidate they perceive to be closest to their commonly held views on public education, full employment, war and peace, criminal justice, fairness and other issues.

The black American tendency to vote more or less as a community is what made possible the careers of generations of African American Democratic (and if you go back far enough, Republican) operatives and politicians. More importantly, black bloc voting is the only factor that keeps the legitimate demands of African Americans alive and visible in the nation's political discourse.

Breaking up the black bloc vote and thereby blunting the electoral impact of the Black Consensus has long been the cherished goal of the bipartisan Right. White pundits are forever scolding black America for our misguided "monolithic" behavior at the polls, duplicitously complaining that it isolates rather than empowers black communities. Each election cycle, they wistfully predict that black bloc voting is about to end. Soon a new crop of corporate funded black candidates and elected officials, many originally elevated to office on the strength of the Black Consensus itself, will be available to tell white America what it wants to hear, that the consensus is irrelevant or no longer exists.

[Toucano]

41. You're completely wrong n-t

[jackson_dem]

43. I think you're confusing the Clintons with Obama's strategy in SC, MS, and NC

Notice how racial controversy is only drummed up when it is beneficial to Obama? The race card was nowhere for six weeks before PA and here it is mysteriously all over the place just in time for NC. Just like it wasn't around for 10 months in Iowa and New Hampshire but appeared before South Carolina. Just like it disappeared before Super Tuesday. Just like it was nowhere before Wisconsin. Just like it was awol before Texas and Ohio but mysteriously reappeared right after 3/4--just in time for the MS primary.

[liberalcommontater]

88. They don't see it.

[FrenchieCat]

44. You are totally correct, David......

and I saw from miles away, after she lost Iowa. Her ugly strategy reared its head on January 7th. It's been getting worse with every passing day.

"even though".....OMG! :wow:

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[H2O Man]

47. For many of us,

the 2008 election brings back memories -- good and bad -- of 1968. The good things include the promise that people felt: we can make things better. One of the bad things is having battles that we fought and largely won within out party, raising their ugly heads again. Appeals to racism should be rejected across the board. And the Clinton campaign has continued to make such appeals.

[Cha]

120. Thanks for bringing

that up..I was around but not paying that much attention back then. The history is a welcome addition to this discussion.

[JackORoses]

48. America deserves much better than the Clintons

Sorry, Hill and Bill have stopped thinking about tomorrow, and have started thinking only about themselves.

They think they can bully and smear their way to this nomination.
They feel like it is now or never so they don't mind revealing their natural Rightwing tendencies.
They will be soundly rejected.

[Enrique]

49. that's not a good way to discuss racism

racism should be discussed seriously.

[Yossariant]

50. WOW! Glad to see the "Obama is a racist" meme debunked.

:sarcasm:

[psychopomp]

51. Sen. Clinton lost me at "spade work"

[TragedyandHope]

52. Yes, many family and friends are deeply hurt and betrayed

after supporting Bill for so many years.

[barack the house]

53. To highlight the point " is George Bush muslim " " no as far as I kow" So clear what she meant.

[EFerrari]

54. You should submit this to OpEdNews, David.

If you do, you might add that Bill Clinton accused Obama of mugging him with accusations of racism -- I believe that was after the Ferraro ugliness. Well done!

[H2O Man]

55. There was the

"car thief" comment, too.

[EFerrari]

57. That's right. I was hoping that I'd imagined that one

but if you remember it, too, I guess I didn't.

[IsItJustMe]

56. I think your post is dead on. My eyes have been open for quit some time now about the deplorable

way that the Clintons have run their race baiting campaign. It is very sad to see this happen with in the Democratic Party, and when it is all said and done, I don't believe that history is going to be very kind at all to the Clintons.

I am white male and I will be voting for Obama, and there are millions upon millions more of us that will do the same. Fuck racism.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

59. It's the Clinton's very own "Southern Strategy" complete with code-words.

[EFerrari]

106. No kidding. A few weeks ago, I joked that they'd be out

campaigning with the corpse of George Wallace. Well, David trumped that ref.

[fortyfeetunder]

60. They conveniently forget Obama's late mother--

Was not black. Guess it's that one little drop (or in this case 23 chromosomes) that make a difference!!!!

[bigtree]

63. If that's true than the reverse goes for Obama. I think you're ridiculous

and race baiting. You demean the effort to identify and deal with actual racism. You have expolited race in a highly dishonest way in your accusations for purely political purposes here. I think your efforts are disgusting.

[ekwhite]

97. That doesn't even make sense

If Hillary is playing the race card, then Obama must be doing the same? The OP is digusting for pointing out the campaign tactics used by the Clintons? Sorry, that dog won't hunt.

[leaningprog]

64. Bullseye!

Bill and Hillary Clinton, and James Carville, and Mark Penn are all
highly experienced and sophisticated people. They have been around people
of color, and Bill especially knows how the Southern Strategy and the
code words and push polls and whispers work. They believe they
are walking the edge of the razor blade, where you can score points
this way and not get caught. They are wrong. People see them for
how they act, how they avail themselves of the opponents of their
own party to spoil a rising star that threatens Hillary II in
2012.

Watch closely women, if the time comes where you are a burden
versus a delicious white male demographic, you are expendable
to go under the Clinton bus as well. It is not about you or us,
it is about the Clintons and power. Everyone is expendable if
necessary to get them there again, women, minorities, associates,
the Democratic Party, integrity, progress, and especially the
prospect that terrifies them the most, a better version of politics
than they know how to pursue, and are unqualified by their pattern
of allegiance to the politics of personal destruction.

[Evergreen Emerald]

66. Link please.

To anything that is not distorted and twisted into being like race when it is not (IE can't suggest that elitist = uppity).

Link to actual racist stuff. I am so tired of the ugly accusations from people who will distort and twist anything to continue the hate-fest of a progressive Senator who has spent her career fighting for civil rights and liberal causes.

[suzie]

71. Bill Clinton is coming to = George Wallace

And that's sad. The trouble with Wallace was that he wasn't a racist. But he was out...maneuvered (he used a different word) and lost to a real racist in an election. After that, he vowed that he would not be out-racebaited again.

Most of us have said that Bill Clinton is not a racist, but he's sure following in ol' George's tracks.

Politicians are very careful at what they say. They're practiced at using precise words. I didn't see or hear about Bill's remarks in SC until later--was on vacation. When we asked a friend, who like myself, grew up in the South if he truly used race-coded remarks the answer was "Oh yeah".

Much later, I happened to see the video clip of Bill talking about Jesse Jackson in South Carolina. It was vintage Bill--you could see the same gleam in his eye that he always had in a debate when he was about to zing someone. George Wallace time.

It's an unpleasant thing to see that someone that many of us respected on race is using the Southern Strategy that the GOP has employed for many elections. But, how can we ever criticize the Republicans for their hideous tactics if we accept it in one of our own?

BTW, you might want to read about Clinton's valedictory address at college where she trashed the only non-white senator in the U.S. Senate. She got her photo and a writeup in LIFE Magazine. Fighting for civil rights when it's convenient and black voters help you out--but when it comes to your own fame and fortune--sorry, under the bus?

[BlueJac]

67. Great Post!

:applause:

[spin]

70. I thought Bill was the first "black" President. (nt)

[Steely_Dan]

74. So Did I...

I guess that's all out the window now. The Clintons' never fought for African-Americans...I must have misread that.

-P

[Raineyb]

110. If we're going to bring up the Clinton as first black president meme

Shall we at least put it into context?

http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/clinton/morrison.html

African-American men seemed to understand it right away. Years ago, in the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. And when virtually all the African-American Clinton appointees began, one by one, to disappear, when the President's body, his privacy, his unpoliced sexuality became the focus of the persecution, when he was metaphorically seized and bodysearched, who could gainsay these black men who knew whereof they spoke? The message was clear "No matter how smart you are, how hard you work, how much coin you earn for us, we will put you in your place or put you out of the place you have somehow, albeit with our permission, achieved. You will be fired from your job, sent away in disgrace, and--who knows?--maybe sentenced and jailed to boot. In short, unless you do as we say (i.e., assimilate at once), your expletives belong to us."


For a large segment of the population who are not African-Americans or members of other minorities, the elusive story left visible tracks: from target sighted to attack, to criminalization, to lynching, and now, in some quarters, to crucifixion. The always and already guilty "perp" is being hunted down not by a prosecutor's obsessive application of law but by a different kind of pursuer, one who makes new laws out of the shards of those he breaks.


Certain freedoms I once imagined as being in a vault somewhere, like ancient jewels kept safe from thieves. No single official or group could break in and remove them, certainly not in public. The image is juvenile, of course, and I have not had recourse to it for the whole of my adult fife. Yet it is useful now to explain what I perceive as the real story. For each bootstep the office of the Independent Counsel has taken smashes one of those jewels--a ruby of grand-jury secrecy here, a sapphire of due process there. Such concentrated power may be reminiscent of a solitary Torquemada on a holy mission of lethal inquisition. It may even suggest a fatwa. But neither applies. This is Slaughtergate. A sustained, bloody, arrogant coup d'éat. The Presidency is being stolen from us. And the people know it.

Clinton's "blackness" wasn't due to his closeness to the black community, it was a reference to the Republicans and impeachment and certain perceptions of how he wasn't "like them." "Them" being the crusty white people who have been running things from the start of the country.

Regards

[annie1]

93. the more obama supporters play call sen. clinton racist, the more of her supporters will

will stay home or vote against him. it's really disgusting how ugly his supporters can be. it's downright scary.

[EFerrari]

105. And you ability to discount the evidence is even scarier.

I wasn't supporting either of them before the Clinton campaign went down this road.

That was IT for me.

[Tatiana]

96. Outstanding post, David. Probably one of your best. n/t

[Cha]

111. clintons are not "white like me".

[David Zephyr]

119. Which is why it is imperative that those of us who are white stand up to this once and for all.

zidzi, I'm pointing the finger of blame squarely at myself and all white Democrats who have let this cnyical and wicked ploy by the Clintons pass for far too long. This is wrong. It is divisive and it is evil. It has no place within our Party.

[Cha]

121. Thank you, David,

for writing this thread.

[Name removed]

123. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Politicalboi]

112. Oh but vote

For Hillary because she is a woman is ok. Obama has never said vote for me because I'm black. You Hillbots just can't handle that a intelligent black man doesn't have to use his race to pander to the black vote but Hillary uses the woman pandering all the time. Alan Keys would never get this far as he has shown us in the past. It's the man that matters not the color of his skin that attracts people to him. If Obama was green I would vote for him.

[me b zola]

113. K&R

[lefty2000]

117. This Is An Outrage

Shame on you!

[jaysunb]

118. Well, David

you've managed to smoke out the the truly blind, along w/ the ones that refuse to see.

Good post ! :hi:

[happygoluckytoyou]

122. BLACK? NOBODY TOLD ME HE WAS BALCK...

I THINK BLAZING SADDLES SAID IT BEST...

Bart: Mornin', ma'am. And isn't it a lovely mornin'?
Elderly woman: Up yours n%^&*(.


Jim: How many times have I told you to wash your hands after a weekly cross burning?

Jim: See, it's comin' off.

Bart: And now, for my next impression, Jesse Owens.

WHITES ARE A NEW MINORITY..... HISPANICS SHOULD BACK OBAMA..... BREAK THE 200 YEARS OF WHITE RULE
------hillary would break the 200 years of male rule BUT not with bill in the house

[HuffleClaw]

127. translation: obama's poll numbers are dropping

so it MUST be racism!!!!!


*yawn*

[mcollier]

130. Best Political Ad - FUBAR McSame McCain

View It Now and Recommend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjcLCDUrAk

Someone please post this Ad on DU...

[BenDavid]

134. You've already labeled Hillary a racist, so what do the facts matter?