A Drive-by shooting as another totally racially inappropriate analogy--but accurate, with Hillary at the wheel and her homies doing the shooting for her. But I am still afraid that the image of the "Black Belt" will work to Obama's disadvantage if the ever lazy press adopts it as its short hand for what is essentially, a lie. But a lie told often enough, becomes Weapons Of Mass Destruction, or the Tonkin Gulf, or whatever it needs to be.
I expect that her latest meme will be the most divisive of all, and that Geraldine Ferraro is just laying the ground work for it. "Observations" by the media and talking heads now seems to focus on how Obama wins big with the Black voters; Mississippi, S. Carolina, exit polls in Ohio.
This is code for Watch Out Whitey! I think we will see Hillary say, in so many words, that his popularity among Blacks is somehow a threat to whites. Her 3 AM add has already been called that. So we move from Geraldine Ferraro's alternate reality version of political "Affirmative Action," to the most bigoted, sheet wearing, hate filled divisive tactic in Hillary's arsenal of negative attacks.
She refuses to take responsibility for what happens in her own house on her own watch. This is not battle tested decision making that will lead the country. This is a candidate salting the earth and poisoning the wells of the Democratic Party and could well lead to another Republican victory this Fall.
Obama's "Southern Strategy" Wins the Black Belt
Mississippi, the state of Emmett Till and Medgar Evers, James Meredith and "Freedom Summer," and the killings of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, voted overwhelmingly for the only African-American presidential candidate ever to remain competitive and, a frontrunner, at this late stage in a campaign.
Barack Obama won 90 percent of the black vote, but also 25 percent of the white vote, which is evidence that he crossed over and attracted young white upwardly mobile people who desire change. Obama's ability to win the traditional "black belt" of the South -- South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi -- while capturing a significant percentage of white voters shows that the Democrats, with a huge black turn out, might be able to win one or more states in the South. (Call it Obama's "Southern Strategy.")
Obama's win today in Mississippi puts him in a great position going into Pennsylvania, and he will have a full 6 weeks to build an organization, articulate his views, and allow Pennsylvania voters to get to know him, hopefully in "town hall" meetings in places such as Erie, Reading, Harrisburg, State College, as well as the suburbs of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Wherever Obama has had the time to get his organization up and running he has done well even under much tighter time constraints than he faces in Pennsylvania.
Although the corporate media portray the Obama-Clinton competition as a "knife fight," it is Hillary Clinton's campaign that is doing all of the slashing. The latest swipe came from Geraldine Ferraro who yesterday told a newspaper that she believes Obama would not be where he is today if he were not black. Ferraro is the latest mouthpiece of the Hillary Clinton campaign to racially profile Obama. They denigrate his accomplishments and remind voters that Obama is black, or that he has a funny name and dresses in "foreign" outfits, or he's a Christian "as far as I know." All of these are inferences, codes of racism to white ethnic voters, especially in Pennsylvania, signaling that "We're on your side -- We're thinking what you're thinking." It is an insidious racist strategy wholly consistent with Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" of forty years ago. Obama has pulled back the curtain and exposed the Clintons for what they truly are.
Obama is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in 2008. By virtue of his lead in the number of contests won, the popular vote, and the pledged delegates, his campaign continues to roll along to victory. In the next 10 races Clinton must win each of them by at least 64 percent (according to Chuck Todd of MSNBC). But Hillary Clinton is NOT going to win the remaining primaries by this margin. It's not going to happen. It's still over.
(Thanks, once again, to my colleague Dr. Stan Oden for his collaboration on this one.)
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There is/will be a piece by Matt Bai in the coming NYT Sunday magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/magazine/16wwln-lede-t.html)
that analyzes the 'Racial Divide' confronting the Demos. It's one of
those NYT pieces that seems to favor HRC, but it's worth reading anyway.
Part of the problem may be that where Obama is 'cool', she seems 'shrill'.
In other words, maybe she's right, but we just don't want to hear about it from her.
In other words, the tactic is 'if blacks vote for Obama, then whites should vote for Clinton'?
Perhaps you're right. Indeed pretty cynical. Reminiscent of the infamous Repo 'Willy Horton' ploy. Actually, Obama's popularity among whites is pretty exciting, no? Obviously, there's no way he would win unless he was VERY popular among all voters, white or black, Repo or Demo. So far, that seems to be exactly what's going on.
Which is not to say that Obama's faux popularity among Repos-posing-as-Demos
in various Red states is 'exciting' in the same way, however. Somehow, this has to
be discounted, carefully, at the Convention.
About 60% of voters in Mississippi are white & Republican. Probably pretty typical of
the rest of the South. They are Red states & they are going to stay Red this year, in all likelihood.
Whether or not Obama wins all the southern Demo primaries. Which is not to say that it wouldn't
be very remarkable if he were also to win a few southern states in November also. But don't count on it.
(And I say that as an Obama supporter.) It's just not at all surprising or significant that he wins these
primaries.
Do people supporting Hillary! really want this to go on? Democrats were united and running a beautiful, factual, issues-oriented campaign - until she fell behind. Since then it's been all scandal, all whisper campaigns, all negative, all the time.
The kitchen sink needs to be retired.
We just dont want to lose the general election and that is what Obama is going to do. Just cause he won a bunch of primaries in the Black Belt and some inherently undemocratic causcuses in small states does not mean he is gonna win the general election. In fact he has long odds to do so regardless of what the polls show today. Gore was up 20 points against Bush in the polls at this point in the election cycle and Dukakis was up 16 points. The problem with Obama is that he is a liberal black man. He is not going to win any of the black belt states. He could not win any of the big state primaries required to win the nomination. He will be painted as a racist, left wing closet muslim and radical. He will not attract the voters needed to win-the great middle. He attracts a lot of passionate support but its thin support. Young people, white intellectuals, students. Young people and students rarely vote. The people who do vote regularly are not for Obama. Older people, middle class white people. This is really 1972 all over again where on the basis of an unpopular war the extreme left wing of the party forced McGovern down our throats and assured us that he would prevail. Well he lost in spectacular fashion, winning only one state I believe. Now Obama may win more than one state but I seriously doubt he will be President.
Is Obama being 'forced down our throats' any more than Ms Clinton is?
How is one candidate different from the other, in this regard? Arguably,
'young people & students (& others) rarely vote' because they don't have
anybody in particular to vote for. As we used to say around these parts,
'Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts.'
Just read this on wikipedia: "Ferraro had also made similar statements about former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson during the 1988 presidential election cycle, claiming that if "Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race." Shocking. She certainly seems to have issues with African-Americans and seems to think they shouldn't get 'above themselves' - I can't believe that anyone would want her on their team, but apparently racists are welcome in the Clinton camp.
I find it oddly absurd that bloggers, and media newscasters, can comment on percentages of black votes received by Obama vs Clinton, and "Southern Strategy", without gaining even the remotest pallor of racism. Yet when Ferraro mentions that this is an advantage for him, and if he was a woman (even a black one) it wouldn't have the same impact, she is labeled a racist. Calling Clintons supporters simply white blue collar, and Obama supporters as young, upwardly mobile people, is elitist hogwash and equally as polarizing. The old generalizations of dumb white hicks living in the south just doesn't hold in the 21st century. I've met as many rednecks in California and New Jersey, as I have in Texas. But I've also met as many PhDs and well read Texans, Alabamans, and Arkansans as I have in those places too.
I have not supported either of these candidates from the beginning, as I felt they were each too polarizing in their own way, and that the truly progessive issues of change were personified in other candidates, who have unfortunately since had to drop out of the race, not being historical enough in their race or gender to attract enough attention from the media. Ferraro misspoke a fact, this is true. But it is true that if all the candidates had been the same race and gender, we might not have the same ones on the verge of the nomination. Is discussing that possibility then racist? The people who are dividing the party in this election are the ones analizing it from every angle possible- the slice and dice mentioned by Obama. But is this a Clinton strategy, as you claim, or is this Mat Lauer, George Stephanopoulous, Tim Russert, and even you Joe Palermo?
I agree. The Southern Strategy? If Palermo thinks that BO garnering a mere 25% of Whites is something significant, then I guess we are orbiting on a different solar system. Obama used his gutter politics when he was speaking to a mostly Black crowd in MS a few days ago saying that Hillary was indeed, behind the Drudge Report's photograph. How disgusting. Obama pulled that same crap in S. Carolina. Fairy tale turned into racism. Jesse Jackson turned into racism. This is disgusting. Well, I guess the Republicans will win again in November. The BO fanatics, comprised mainly of naive, inexperienced college kids, are tearing down Hillary to such an extreme that I have NEVER witnessed in all of my 25 years of voting as a Democrat. I was an Obama supporter for 1 year until he started pulling this crap in S. Carolina. I will NEVER vote for him. And, by the way, I am Latina. However, I know numerous Whites that will NEVER vote for him precisely because of the aforementioned reasons. If Obama really believes that he will garner all of Hillary's supporters, then, I guess he must be orbiting the same solar system as Joe Palermo.
Amen, jdm58 and Amen Again, ginamc. NEVER BEFORE, have I seen politics taken to the depths to which the Obama campaign has descended. Too bad. His devotees are in for a rude awakening if he gets the nomination.
Hillary Clinton has done one good thing with her stabbing at Obama. She has revealed the secret face that America wears under the mask. The supporters of Obama also reveal that that face is changing and the mask is maybe becoming a half-mask. Hillary Clinton, is bringing to light the fact that lower-class, lower-educated white women can be just as ignorant as their male counterparts. For some reason, America has this idea that someone from a minority group cannot be bigoted towards other minority groups. I am surprised that some of her supporters have not jumped ship because they do not want to be seen as bigots (even though they maybe in private). It is amazing to see the differences between the Clinton's public mask and their private frace. Did they have these same views in 1990's when President Clinton was considered the 'black president'?
Mississippi a battleground state? Pure fool's gold. Should the GOP be in any danger of losing Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or Tennessee among a few other Dixie states, there will be a 50 state landslide for the Democratic candidate. Virginia is a possibility. Maybe Missouri. And Arkansas with a Clinton on the ticket. Someone's been hitting the medical marijuana again.
Nice spin and wrong. The move of the white voters to Hillary Clinton is substantial and matches the move in Ohio. Senator Obama said if he were the nominee he could bring Mississippi into play and last night's numbers show that he can't. in fact, what is happening is just the opposite of what you portray. Yes, he has garnered the African-American demographic, but he is unable to gain the votes of the blue-collar white voters. This makes him a serious risk to the Democratic Party in the general election were he to become the party's nominee.
Halli Casser-Jayne
http://www.thecjpoliticalreport.com
Sorry to burst your bubble, but 25% of the white vote for an african american with a name like his in Mississippi (not to say that they are racist) is HUGE. Not to mention that about 12% of those voting claimed to be republicans.
It is kind of sad that you have to go troll on other people's websites to plug yours.
I am strongly supporting Obama, but I think the idea that winning 25% of the white vote is good is on the silly side. And it does not bode well for Obama winning any of the deep south. Palermo is probably right that Obama's 25% represents young white upwardly mobile whites who want change. But the 75% who voted against him are likely much more similar to the voters who did not vote because they are not democrats.
In general, Obama does worst with white voters in states in which the white voters are largely southern baptists. (The voters whose republican counterpoints wouldn't vote for Romney who is mormon).
I think Obama does put some red states in play, but they are more likely in the west like the Dakotas. And he gives the dems a better chance in Colorado which is already in play. But I did not see anything encouraging about Obama's result in Mississippi with regard to his ability to win in the South. It even makes me worry a bit about Virginia where he is likely to get few votes outside of the Washington suburbs and Richmond.
I agree with this post (unfortunately).
I support Obama and feel that Clinton by virtue of (among other things) her votes on Iraq and her failure to even learn from such vote evidenced by her vote for the Kyle/L---------- amendment on Iran ( cannot print or say L's name without a curse attached) disqualifies her from following the present disaster as president of the U.S.
However, it is obvious to me that a great proponderance of white america is not yet ready to press the lever for a black american no matter what his qualifications may be. Therefore, the result I would like to see from a stalemated convention is the compromise nomination of Al Gore with Obama as VP. I believe that after 4/8 years of Gore as President and Obama as VP, this country may finally feel comfortable enough to put its prejudices aside.
I know that what I suggest is not likely but I believe that Al Gore's nomination would be acceptable to the overwhelming majority of Democrats and would result in a ticket that could not lose (absent gross fraud in the electoral process which should not be discounted) to John McCain.
The comment from Ferraro is highly ironic - when I was in the US several years ago now, Barack Obama was the name on everyone's lips; people were saying 'watch out for him, he will be President one day'. So it was no surprises for me when I heard he had made it this far. Hillary on the other hand has made it where she is today solely because she is married to Bill. She is a Clinton and therefore part of the US dynasty. Obama is the fly in Hillary's ointment, she thought all along that she would be President in '08. And so she is willing to resort to anything to destroy him, even the most heinous thing of all - racism. If only the Obama camp were willing to get as low down and nasty as her (and sometimes I just wish they would) then they could destroy her with words - only they would be truthful words.
There is something funny about the complaint that Obama is an affirmative action candidate. After all it is being made by the legacy candidate, and it is not clear who has less standing to complain about affirmative action than the legacy candidate.
How Ferraro-like. Emphasize that Obama is black.
The fact is, there is NO state where blacks have a majority. That he won by 60% in Mississippi is due to the fact that he is the only one who offers a chance to change things, not the fact that he's black.
While it may be true that 90% of blacks support him, that may be due to the fact that they do not hold his being black against him. Explain how he won in Vermont - did he appeal to the 3 blacks that live there? (okay, maybe there are 4 blacks in Vermont).
BTW - I am a 60-year-old white male independent.
With the discussion about Senator Obama's VP potential 's lofting thought the airways it got me thinking who would be the best VP for Senator Obama, who I agree has all but won this race. Oddly enough I did not think the best choice was Senator Clinton rather my view is that he should ask his financial advisor Warren Buffet.
Given everyone (except our incompetent and delusional President) agrees that the economy is in a mess who better to fill the number two role than the "Sage of Omaha" who has the most highly regarded financial mind in the country. Not only would it nicely balance out his ticket it would also be a great choice for the economic welfare of the country.
FROM INDIE7 - I can't take credit for this ...
CNN exit polls show Clinton got 70% of the white vote. Obama got 92% of the black vote. The other minorities are small.
To apply this to the general: If you apply this to the statewide demographics, and try 70% of the white vote for McCain, and 92% of the black vote for Obama, Obama wins. (This is assuming that equal demographic percentages actually vote.)
Here's the math:
Obama (0.3*0.6172)+(0.92*0.3724) = 52.78%
McCain (0.7*0.6172)+(0.08*0.3724) = 46.18%
Demographic info from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi#Racial_makeup_and_ancestry
Also, CNN exit polls show that 9% of Hillary's 37% came from Republicans. I don't think anyone would call that doing 'well'.
12% admitted Republicans, 75% for Clinton
13% strongly favorable opinion of McCain, 70% for Clinton
15% said NEITHER candidate is Honest and trustworthy, 77% for Clinton
Apples & oranges, as they say, I'm afraid.
The Clinton/Obama vote was in the primary, no?
In November, the 60% of Mississippi voters who
are white will vote for McCain by 90%, thus making
it 54% for McCain, the rest for whoever.
70% for Clinton in the primary simply does not apply to McCain in November.
Absolutely...
cheap shots, then cheap excuses.
It's old politics. Right down to Geraldine's latest. Americans have seen it all before, and they should be ready to finally clear these hurdles.
And now we wait for the cheap excuse:
"We're doing it for your own good. Don't you think THEY will do it to him? We're making sure he's ready for these tactics."
I am an Obama supporter, but can you please tell me why winning 25% of the white vote is a good thing? Seems pretty low. Then again, he's won huge majorities of white folks in places like Utah, Iowa, and Wyoming, so maybe it's a Mississippi thing...? Is 25% of whites in Mississippi good?
Yes, 25% is good, particulary when 9% of the white vote Hillary got was republican (Rush's republicans) ... take that 9% out and his numbers go up.
25% of the white vote in Mississippi is outstanding for a Black guy named Obama in arguably the most racist state in America.
Black folk in Georgia might take issue with that assessment.
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Posted March 12, 2008 | 01:39 AM (EST)