Surely Hillary Clinton Will Not Wrap Herself in "the White Vote" in the waning days of the campaign

[Leopolds Ghost]

Excerpted from TPM on another thread:

We all knew it was coming. The tentacles of race baiting snaked out of Bill's mouth, Rendell's mouth and Ferraro's mouth. Now, however, I sickens me to report that it is about the only them left to HRC's campaign. Let's call it like it is. Her last remaining stand is racism. Pure and simple. "No you can't."

Last night while the likes of Russert and the MSNBC crew were assuring us that HRC would continue the remaining days of her campaign on high ground, Begala was suggesting that Obama couldn't win because of the "white" vote. This morning, Wolfson, at his press conference, suggested the same thing.

Now, apparently, the Clinton camp is suggesting that the massive loss they suffered was a victory of sort because they won the "white" vote in North Carolina.

I found this at TPM and find it disturbing to the point of head exploding:

Garin argued that the North Carolina contest, which Obama won by 14 points, represented "progress" for Hillary because she did better among white voters there than she did in Virginia.

Garin said that the Virginia electorate was the "closest white electorate in the country" to North Carolina, and added that Hillary "started even" among whites in North Carolina, and "ended up earning a significant win of 24 points."

<snip>

Put in the context of the Hillary campaign's chief argument that she's the more electable Dem, Garin's overall implication here is that her success among white voters in North Carolina yesterday is "progress" in the sense that it strengthens her case for electability.

In other words, it's an explicit, and unabashed, linking of her claim of electability to her success among whites.

And more specifically, Southern and Appalachian whites, given her trumpeting of the gains made among white voters who are "most akin to those in Virginia" specifically, and excluding "other types" of white voters who split more evenly and are accused of being "elitist" for their open-mindedness. She is trumpeting success in a very specific metric here -- white voters who feel uncomfortable with Obama's race. She is saying the campasign should continue as long as a certain portion of white voters regard race as an issue, and regard issues like Wright as a "race" issue based on the accent and color of the man's skin alone.

[anonymous171]

1. Obama is half-white. He should repeat that ad nauseum.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Oh god no he shouldn't. That just reminds white folks how not-white he is...

as well as confirming for white folks that white is better (else say white bigots, why would it be sooooo important to him to be white?), and black folks who hate him in a heartbeat for it.

That's like the worst idea EVER.

[LSparkle]

12. If he can't do that, then maybe he should talk about his white grandparents who raised him

reinforce the idea that he was installed with values by BOTH
sides of his family.

[Leopolds Ghost]

15. I wish we could see more of Obama's grandparents. Are they sick?

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. He does. nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

4. He'll do even worse with Hillary's favored segment if he points this out.

They used to blackball, refused to serve in stores, and even beat up
people in all parts of the country who intermarried. In the 1970s and
early 1980s. They were regarded as elitists and hippies with ties to
other countries where interracial marriage was tolerated.

This is the heart of Obama's "elitist" argument.

I should know, I have family and friends who suffered from it.

[BlooInBloo]

2. She already has. She's now fully committed to the Whites Only Strategy.

Clinton NOW!

Clinton TOMORRAH!

Clinton FOREVAH!

[Leopolds Ghost]

5. Will she stand in the convention door in Denver with a baseball bat?

Like, um, they did in 1968.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Shouting "nigger go home"? I wouldn't bet against it. Kentucky's next week, right?

[jaysunb]

18. Too funny

and I agree w/ you. :rofl:

[Zodiak]

6. Please tell me this is not happening

Because if it is, I want her out of the party. Seriously.

There is no excuse for a 100 million dollar Democrat from New York to run as the anti-black candidate.

[redqueen]

10. It's happening all right.

Sad doesn't even come close.

[featherman]

7. She'll lose the "white vote" out west in OR, MT, and SD

[Leopolds Ghost]

17. Those whites don't count. Obviously they aren't "down-to-earth" enough to care about race nt

[skipos]

9. I hear Stormfront is looking for a new candidate since Ron Paul is going nowhere.

Then again, Clinton is going nowhere too.

[stillcool]

11. I have been disgusted ....

by the blatant use of race in this Primary season, by the media, by the Clinton's, and by racists. Blowing this up as the defining issue in electing a President in this country is hurtful and harmful. The good news is that the dividing line is not between blacks and whites, it is between racists, and non-racists. Having Democrats come out of the closet, and stand up for what they believe is a good thing. Who knew?

[grassfed]

13. what do you think HC's blue contacts are meant to say vis à vis her and Barack?

Hillary is cutting it awfully close IMO

[FrenchieCat]

14. I have to essentually agree that this sends the wrong message

to the entire country. None of us should be "proud" of this.

[w13rd0]

16. This is very dissappointing...

...what's next? Will she press on, and if, after all of it, losing, declare herself the "Dixiecrat" nominee?

[SoCalDem]

20. watch her!

That is exactly her plan.. WV & KY are "her kind of states".. she will fearmonger and fling innuendo and try to over-perform..

[TexasObserver]

21. She will! And don't call me Shirley!

What a sad, sad devolution of her and her campaign. One more swim through the cess pool before they hang it up.

[TragedyandHope]

22. White Democrats getting 80%+ of the black vote has never been a problem

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5868586">Democrats need 80%+ of black votes to win in the White House

[Mooney]

23. The last candidate I remember talking so openly and gleefully about the "white vote" was David Duke.

I shouldn't let this stuff depress me, but it does.

[barack the house]

I would imagine at this point even her supporters are finding this grim...

I think her support is more on nostalgia than race and the nostalgia is, most likely, waneing. Her white vote isn't earned from racism, but just a remainder after alienating african americans. It won't last forever, as people see that negativity won't help america. PA is a different story but it was more a generational thing there.

[barack the house]

24. ...

...

[LVjinx]

25. Isn't it pollsters and pundits who divided this race up white v black with exit polls/analysis?

Are Obama supporters honestly going to say they never heard anyone say "Obama is expected to do well in North Carolina because it has a large black community" or "Obama should do well in South Carolina because it has a large black community" or "Hillary should do well in PA because it has a large white lower middle class population." Seriously, these numbers which are supposedly so offensive came right off the media's projections, polls, and exit polls! Why pretend it's something the Clinton campaign (or the Obama campaign, for that matter) invented?

This Hillary-is-a-racist narrative is the major, the single biggest issue, that has turned Clinton supporters against Obama. Since Obama will be our nominee, I suggest the proponents of this racist narrative cool it so that we might actually have a chance to win in November. Should this continue, questions are going to have to be asked about why people are using the race card to hurt other democrats and what those posters motives truley are.