Clinton: Obama Not Winning Over "Hard-Working Americans, White Americans"

USA Today notices that Sen. Hillary Clinton has begun referring explicitly to her appeal among white voters while on the campaign trail:

Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters -- including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

This is the second time since Tuesday's primaries that the Clinton campaign has referred to the racial dimension of the voting electorate. Ben Smith reports from yesterday's conference call on the state of the race:

And Garin brags, specifically and explicitly, about her strength with the white vote, comparing North Carolina's white voters in North Carolina to those in Virginia. (The conversations have always been about these voters, but they're usually referred to as "blue collar" or by some less specifically racial euphemism.)

"We lost the white electorate in Virginia, started even in North Carolina among the white electorate just two weeks ago, and ended [with] a very significant win of 24 points among those voters," he said, acknowledging that among black voters, Clinton "did not do as well as we would want or need."

Comments

[AtomicSplash]

It;s funny how when Hillary speaks about the demographics of the primary that she is termed a racist. But if Barack or one of his supporters talks about the demographics of the primary, LOL it's just demographics.

[nomobull]

yeah right and when is it her fault

[kcam44]

i was really trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you just sound like a bigot. You are just as racist as Hillary. I don't recall hearing Obama talk about the "black vote". (the media has) It's Hillary who publicly invokes the "white vote". I guess you're one of those "white-working class" voters, that will never vote for a black candidate. It's ok though, it's your right. The American people have spoken, and the majority of them are for Senator Obama. I know it's hard for you to accept a "Black President", but I'm confident that he will do much better than George W. (he can't do much worse, can he?)

[AtomicSplash]

I don't care about Barack's skin color. and since you are obviously in the grip of hysteria Hillary hasn't been saying that white working class voters won;t vote for Barack. What she has been saying is that they have been supporting her in the primary as part of a more broad based coalition of democrats then that which supports Barack. The primary stats have supported this statement. There is nothing racist about it

[soundfury]

It's not in the when, it's in the how.

[deeoneakin]

You obviously belong to that demographic which Sen. Clinton so eloquently described as her exclusive base. Have you ever heard Sen. Obama talk about winning the black vote even though AAs are voting so overwhelmingly for him. It's not decent to divide the party along racial lines especially when you're supposed to be running for the nomination of the Democratic party.

[AtomicSplash]

Ah yes, Barack is above such things. But then again Barack held onto Jeremiah Wright early on so as not to lose black support and only disowned Wright after he had blacks in his pocket and of course after Barack said about wright...

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

[GingerB]

Hillary Clinton, despicable on day one.

[dadele]

I am ashamed and embarrassed by the Democratic party tonight. Don't the uncommitted super-delegates understand their silence on this is complicity.

[soundfury]

Yes, their silence is DEAFENING, isn't it? I believe there are several reasons:

1) Clinton loyalty above what is right for the country NOW.

2) Fear of embarrassment and/or retaliation: politically risky

3) Wait and see, maybe she'll drop out

4) Wait and see, maybe it will work itself out in the end

5) Maybe Hillary has a point?

5) Wait and see, can Obama overcome this too?

To the superdelegates: Obama has already proven he is Superman and you are treating him like a 2nd rate Nominee. Hillary does not have a point for 2 reasons: the die-hards hate Bush more than they dislike Obama and will fear voting for the Bush look a like in November, and she's race baiting to get her way - destroy the nominee!

[ajax2]

the hillary camp wants your dollars so they continue this racist bs.

[jeffp26]

Hillary, my senator, has shown herself to be a racist expletive deleted. Next time she runs for the senate, she can kiss my behind. I'm sure many of my black friends will feel the same.

[dadele]

I hope everyone in NY remembers these comments when she runs for re-election.

[chronic]

Oh trust me, they will!!

[GingerB]

If I lived in West Virginia or Kentucky, I'd be really ticked off at what Hillary's insinuating. I doubt they want to be viewed as hard-working, racist, uneducated whites.

[missette]

Exactly. People went wild when Obama said some people cling to guns and religion in tough times, but somehow it's OK for Clinton to directly appeal to hard-working WHITE Americans - vs what, all those minority slobs? How more blatantly racist could she be? If challenged, of course, she'll act all indignant the her remarks are being construed to single out whites as being hard working. But there she goes again, dividing an already divided country - white hard-working Americans with low education (I guess the educated don't work hard to her mind), beer drinkers, gun toters, elitists - and those are just her breakout of the white electorate! Her comments do help explain her chameleon nature, as she views America not as as melting pot but as separate and removed interest groups to be pandered to with gimmicks.

[aznurse]

Yeah, the folks in PA who didn't vote for Obama were upset because they perceived him to be an elitist, but theyr'e suppossed to be ok with being called uneducated?

[SpaceCadet]

[[As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, ...]]

Hard-working white Americans, as opposed to those lazy shiftless un-American minorities and effete intellectual pinkos who vote for Obama?

Geez. The pundits were wrong once again. They predicted that Clinton would accept defeat gracefully and run a respectful campaing until her inevitable defeat toward the end of this month. But it looks like she's going to continue her scorched-earth strategy: either she's going to win or she'll destroy the Democratic party trying. If the party insiders offered her the nomination if she would bite the head off a chicken on the floor of the Senate, she'd probably take them up on the offer.

And to think I was kind of pleased that she won the New Hampshire primary because the corporate medai were treating her badly. Sigh...

[bakossi]

sho'nuff everybodys knows white folk are the only hard working peoples in America. Black folks is just shiftless. [gag]

Here's the unvarnished truth. We are going to lose the white working class in the fall. We have lost the white working class every election in the fall since Ronald Reagan. Even Bill Clinton only barely won the white working class--by only 1 point in 1992 and 1 point in 1996--and then only because Ross Perot siphoned off white working class votes that otherwise would have gone to the Republican candidate.

Why do we lose the white working class? Because the Republicans run the same kind of campaign against whoever the Democratic nominee is that Hillary ran against Barack (and that Barack resolutely refused to run against her). The fact that so many Hillary voters say they will vote for McCain if Obama is the nominee, even though Hillary and Obama have positions that are almost identical (and very different from McCain), says that their support for Democrats is, at best, very soft. When McCain runs the same kind of campaign against Hillary that Hillary has run against Barack, you can expect them to defect in droves. Unless their sentiments are just a reflection of the fact that they are "bitter" that their candidate is behind, in which case Barack can still pick them up.

[soundfury]

Make up your mind, either we're gonna lose it or we're not? Hillary or no Hillary. You're right in a way. Barack referred to this time as the Fierce Urgency of Now. He's right, it is fiercely urgent. I think that George Bush paved the way for someone like Barack Obama with Change on the agenda. George Bush is the most hated man on the planet right now. So the only ones who will not waver a bit, are the Bush base, right now they're 28%, he even lost 2% of them.

Everyone else is up for grabs, because these are fiercely urgent times. So all the ranting, the railing, the fear, the suspicion will fade away when people go to check that box, they will stop before they check McCain and think, am I going to make the same mistake I made in 2004? Sure SOME of the other 72% will choose him, but believe me, even if most have to hold their nose and jump before they look, they'll be checking the other box.

[soundfury]

I just had an odd thought, nothing to do with the Hillary comment or maybe. This would be a great place for the remaining uncommitted superdelegates to vent without being discovered.

[donaldw6]

Shhh!

[soundfury]

Nooooh. You're kidding right?

[dollars2donuts]

Hillary is a racist b*tch. There, I said it. What a despicable thing to say.
If she's trying to drive every last black person out of the Democratic party she's doing an EXCELLENT job. Remember us, the most loyal constituency of the Dem Party? The only one that always votes >85% Dem? White working class votes majority Rethuglican in EVERY GENERAL ELECTION. What part of that does Billary not understand? So, by all means, chase the repub vote who will NOT vote for you in the GE and at the same time race-bait, insult on a WEEKLY basis the loyal black Dem voters and irreparably damage and divide your party...it­'s the Clinton way! So blacks are: irrelevant, inconvenient, undeserving, and now we're not hard working. The Clintons and their supporters sicken me, and I'll never call myself a democrat again based on how she has exposed the huge numbers of racist whites make up the Dem party (see: over 50% of whites in IN, NC and PA say they wouldn't vote for BO in the general). Literally, it makes me want to throw up that I supported a party that despises me and other black people. Democratic party: you've lost me forever.

[IM2THEPOINT]

Now you're on the right track! This election cycle has offered significant proof of what I've feared all along. Neither of the two established political parties give a rat's a_ _ about minorities except to use them for political gain. HillBilly has clearly demonstrated this. How so many of the "Black" elected officials in this country continue to kiss their a_ _es despite all of the offensive racial baiting, and, today's overt racism, is beyond all logical or rational thought. Certainly African Americans don't need any more code words or lingo to catch on. I can't fathom the thought of supporting a party that boasts about and lauds over it's most valuable and desired constituents being the uneducated and most viciously racist the country has to offer. That is one organization that absolutely won't have my support. The democratic party, Dean, Pelosi or others should have immediately rejected and denounced Clinton and her vile hateful comments. But, alas they did not. Why not? Black folks better wake up!! Just now on Chris Matthews, Clinton also continued this BS in Oregon stating that hardworking blue collar, Catholic, Hispanic and older people who support her prove she has a broader base that will make her more electable and then she actually finished the statement saying "These are the American people!" OMG!!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE THE BLACK PEOPLE IN THIS COUTRY? NONAMERICAN? Democratic Party: You have never and will never have my allegiance!!!!

[1question]

QUESTION: Does Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton see a distinction between the good of the Clintons..­.the good of the Democratic Party and...the good of the country...­!?!?
----------­----------­----------­---------
I believe the Clinton’s are determined to undermine Obama.

I wish the media would talk about the real reason Sen. Clinton is continuing.

She wants to make sure her voting block will NOT vote for Sen. Obama in November.

Sen. Clinton will try to again run in 4 years [2012]. It seems crystal clear to me.

Sen. Clinton is NOT an ethical person...t­here is more at stake here than most know i.e. the money given to Bill for “speeches”­...for consulting, his foundation, the Clinton Library and the other foreign entity IOUs.

Sen. Clinton is the most awful person I have seen in politics..­.pure evil....pu­re evil.

[soundfury]

Yes, but exactly how is she going to run in 2012? I think that Obama is trying to get everyone to move forward, to be better Americans, but in a strange way, because Hillary is exposing everything that is wrong with Washington and this country, she is the real catalyst for change, more and more people are starting to realize that this is what we must move away from.

Hillary Clinton is going to remain in 2008. The rest of the country is moving into 2009 and in 2012, I dare her to resurrect. No, shut my mouth. I know Obama will hold on to the Presidency for 8 years, and so does she, that's why she hasn't given up on destroying him.

[GingerB]

She'll be lucky to keep her senate seat in 2012.

[1question]

QUESTION: What a racist O ’fey...!?!­?
----------­----------­----------­---------

I’ve had enough of the lies, distortions, and distractions. I need a President who understands the value of truth and credibility.

I think the next POTUS needs to be "exceptionally elite "and...the­n some.

[Aywaller]

Today Hillary Clinton confirmed my worst suspicions about her as a person. She is willing to sink to any depths in her desperate attempt to win at any cost. She is lower than low and I didn't think that about her at the start of this campaign. This is truly "playing the race card" and it is ugly.

[becky]

Didn't Obama say that Indiana was a tie breaker? So OK, Hillary won. Obama should drop out.
And as far as Hillary saying Obama can't get the white working class vote. So what? Hillary can't get the black vote.

[kcam44]

The difference is Obama is not publicly broadcasting that Hillary can't get the black vote. He knows he struggles with the white vote, but Hillary is demeaning him publicly and privately (with the superdelegates) and she says she will work hard to unite the party. How can she unite the party, when she's telling the public he can't get the white vote: this is just a coded message to the rednecks: DON'T VOTE FOR THE BLACK CANDIDATE

[chronic]

EXACTLY!!

[Aywaller]

No, Clinton could have if she had run a different kind of campaign. She was getting a good portion of black voters in the early states. But now? You're probably right. She has done so much to alienate blacks that she probably will never get black people to vote for her again. But it's Clinton's fault, not the fault of voters.

[IndependentTogether]

Those who are paying attention know that Clinton's insinuation that Whites won't vote for Obama to be false. She's banking on the fact that the MSM isn't interested in actual journalism or even promoting differing views. In the interest of looking beneath the surface:

Obama is capturing the Black vote, and yes, there is excitement about the prospect of America's first Black president, but it's not as simple as Blacks voting for the "Black candidate". In Obama, African Americans have someone about whom they can be really proud. He's inspirational. He's aspirational. He has a sensible and realistic approach to foreign and domestic policy. He speaks frankly about the social issues such as race, family, religion, etc. Obama is such an exceptional candidate that if he was Hispanic, he would have captured 90% of the Hispanic vote! Asian! Native American! Woman! Gay! Insert your own group and the statement would ring just as true.

Why are Whites voting for Clinton? It's because they're... (wait for it)... (wait for it)... ***THE CLINTONS***!!!! Y'know... much-admired former president.­.. first lady.... first daughter?

The fact that Obama is capturing 30, 40, 50 percent or more (in the predominantly White states that he won) against the highly vaunted "Clinton Machine" is absolutely HUGE. Keeping in mind that McCain doesn't have a fraction of the Clinton pull (and is seriously flawed), Obama will do just fine in the general. You can quote me on that.

[soundfury]

I agree with everything except one thing: Yes in some instances she did capture the white vote because she's a Clinton, but when your're talking about the Appalachian region, then we all know that she's capturing that vote because she's WHITE, and now, she is so despicable, that with this statement she is actually baiting them to VOTE WHITE, and of course to stoop even further, she is doing it to drag Obama into the race pit, but I know he is too much of a gentleman to go there, still she will get her way, because these people hate Obama and she knows it.

[donaldw6]

This is personal to me (see my previous comments). For me, this is the #1 story by far. This is a severe blow to the growing sensibilities of West Virginians and Kentuckians. I can see if the blow is dealt by a Republican, but not, for heaven's sake, by a Democrat! This is intolerable! I'm sorry if I'm over the top, but this is where I was born and raised, and this is ripping my heart out. I've never yet called Hillary dirty names, but I'm on the verge right now.

[IndependentTogether]

Of course there are Whites who won't vote for an African American. Every political candidate throughout time has always had some group that is believed would not support him/her. In 1992 there are people who wouldn't vote for Bill Clinton because they thought he was amoral. In 2000 there are people who wouldn't vote for George Bush because he's... well... an idiot.

And yet they still got elected.

As much as the lazy MSM tries to tell us otherwise, groups are not monolithic­... even despite appearances. And, as Al Gore learned in 2000, Bill Clinton's legacy is not enough to win the presidency.

Simply put, presidencies are won or lost based on (real or perceived) connection to the voters. As Reagan proved, voter connection can even get the electorate to vote against their own interests. Actually, it's *required*. Obama has this connection, Bill Clinton had it, but sadly Hillary Clinton does not. That's why she's had trouble "finding her voice" throughout her campaign; she was completely disconnected from the electorate and their desire for change.

The minute Barack Obama entered the race, Hillary Clinton never had a chance.