The Clinton campaign's worst nightmare is coming true. Watching Run the Jewels' rapper Killer Mike introduce Bernie Sanders in Atlanta was one of the most powerful and inspiring moments of this election. Shattering the notion that Sanders only appeals to white liberals, The Huffington Post writes that "Killer Mike cited Sanders' stance on the Voting Rights Act, health care, education and ending the war on drugs" as reasons to vote for Bernie Sanders. Everyone from Rolling Stone to POLITICO wrote about the event, including a video in The Washington Post titled Killer Mike calls Bernie Sanders 'the next president of the United States.'
In fact, Killer Mike's words will eventually be deemed prescient, since he just won Bernie Sanders the White House. I explained in July how his advocacy of Sanders spelled trouble for Clinton, however this time it's different. At this crucial juncture, when polls are being conducted specifically for Hillary Clinton's campaign (The Hill writes that "Clinton won the debate, Public Policy Polling (PPP) found in its survey, conducted for the pro-Clinton super-PAC Correct The Record"), Killer Mike wasn't paid by a super-Pac.
He's not a part of the DNC and isn't planning on making the next debate scheduled on a Sunday at 4:30 am in the morning. No, Killer Mike doesn't fear the political revolution that the Democratic establishment so desperately is trying to stop; even pushing Joe Biden to run didn't work.
What Killer Mike did was help usher a new paradigm of political consciousness among all Americans, and especially the same voting demographic that Clinton supporters have gleefully placed within a poll number. Ironically, not only do poll numbers change rapidly, but human beings change their views on whom to vote for, and this change is dependent upon a number of factors that poll numbers don't reflect.
Most importantly, few people ask "why" Clinton's lead among minority voters will remain constant.
While pundits have no problem placing 45 million African Americans and 54 million Latinos into a poll number indicating Hillary Clinton leads among these voters, the overlooked reality is that people can't vote for someone they don't know.
This goes for white voters as well.
Roughly 25% of all voters have "not heard enough" about Bernie Sanders, and this includes the non-white Democrat demographic that has bolstered the Clinton campaign thus far. Even in late June, one New York Times article read Bernie Sanders a Virtual Unknown among Black Voters.
With the help of Cornel West, Killer Mike, Lil B, Nina Turner, an influential activist within the Latino community named Cesar Vargas, and so many other non-white Democrats who don't fit into a poll number (derived from a landline call in the middle of the day), Bernie Sanders will quickly erase any lead held by Hillary Clinton.
So, what happens when more African Americans, Latinos, and other non-white Democrats learn about Bernie Sanders?
Since the only thing keeping Clinton's lead is the support of non-white Democrats, some questions need to be asked after Killer Mike's endorsement in Atlanta.
Why would black or Latino voters choose Hillary Clinton in 2016 if she's the only Democrat running who has been funded by two major prison lobbyists? According to a Vice News article titled How Private Prisons Are Profiting From Locking Up US Immigrants, "Clinton's Ready for Hillary PAC received $133,246 from lobbying firms linked to GEO and CCA."
So, with the knowledge that prison lobbyists have funded the Clinton campaign, is this the rationale behind the notion that Clinton's lead won't dissipate before South Carolina?
In addition to prison lobbyists, let's not forget that Hillary Clinton once used a 3:00 am advertisement against Obama containing a "racist sub-message." Also, in 2008 the Obama campaign complained of "dirty tricks" from Clinton, as explained in a Guardian piece titled Clinton aides claim Obama photo wasn't intended as a smear:
Barack Obama's campaign team today accused Hillary Clinton's beleaguered staff of mounting a desperate dirty tricks operation by circulating a picture of him in African dress, feeding into false claims on US websites that he is a Muslim.
Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, described it as "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election". Obama has had to spend much of the campaign stressing he is a Christian not a Muslim and did not study at a madrassa.
With the passage of time, the words "shameful, offensive fear-mongering" have turned into merely a heated competition according to certain observers.
So much for being against Islamophobia and racism, but again, according to certain supporters, poll numbers mean everything; human sentiment isn't even on the radar.
Also, what happens when Clinton's name recognition isn't enough to keep her lead in the polls among African Americans and Latinos?
What happens when more black voters emulate top Ohio Democratic Party official Nina Turner and decide to vote for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton?
While an eleven hour Benghazi hearing boosted morale among Clinton supporters, millions of Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans voting for Sanders gained inspiration and hope from Killer Mike's "powerful endorsement" of Bernie Sanders.
While Bernie Sanders developed a comprehensive Racial Justice platform after protests from Black Lives Matter, Hillary Clinton lectured Black Lives Matter in her meeting, stating "I don't believe you change hearts."
In addition, Boston Black Lives Matter president Daunasia Yancey, like Killer Mike and Cornel West, doesn't fit into a vapid poll number, especially since she met with Clinton and is quoted in NPR describing Clinton's racial justice record as "abysmal":
YANCEY: We were hoping to hear a personal reflection of Secretary Clinton's participation in an advocacy of policies, specifically through the war on drugs, that we've seen has been a war on drug users and more specifically, black and brown drug users, and that's not what we heard. What we heard was clearly a policy-based response and, actually, an admonishment of the movement, which wasn't what we were looking for.
SIEGEL: Do you think that she's been unusually hard on issues that have affected African-Americans negatively?
YANCEY: I think that her record is abysmal (laughter). I think that her support of policies that have decimated black community - she talked a lot about her advocacy for children, for black children, for Latino children while simultaneously sending those children's parents to jail and, if we talk about the Juvenile Justice System, sending those children themselves to jail. And so it's kind of speaking out of both sides of her mouth in a way.
Not many people know that Clinton's response to Black Lives Matter was an "an admonishment of the movement," and not many people know about Clinton's "abysmal" record on racial justice.
But what happens when people start knowing?
Killer Mike just awakened a great many people the other night. It was a powerful endorsement, not only because the Atlanta native is a huge Bernie Sanders supporter, but also because Killer Mike is more than just a musical artist; he's an activist.
Killer Mike's endorsement in Atlanta shattered the myth that Bernie Sanders only appeals to white liberals, or that non-white Democrats are more inclined to vote for Hillary Clinton.
If you're one of the millions of Bernie Sanders supporters around the United States, you've heard skeptics, pundits, and naysayers talk about Bernie Sanders and minority voters.
What you haven't heard is that human beings aren't static poll numbers; they're human beings. Like Hillary Clinton evolves on every issue under the sun, the American voter and Democrat will also evolve, based on what's best for him and her, and based upon the fact only one Democrat running takes money from prison lobbyists.
The other candidate for Democratic nominee is Senator Bernie Sanders.
Killer Mike just won the election for Sanders, and if I'm a Clinton supporter, I'll do my best to go back in time and give back that money from prison lobbyists, or try to never run an attack ad against Obama with a "racist sub-message." Or, I'd try to rewrite 2008, and ensure that South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn isn't quoted in The New York Times stating it was a "unanimous" view among AfricanAmericans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were "committed to doing everything they possibly can to damage Obama to a point that he could never win."