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Using the Race Card

Liberals Now Admit Hillary Blew the Black Vote

Democrats have always taken the black vote for granted. Black Democrats continued to support them. But today is a different day, and only now are liberals looking for answers… and blame, especially if that loss affects the November election.

Here’s a pitiful gem of careful introspection by Salon regarding the Southern Strategy of Bill and the Clinton campaign…

Yet, through a series of intended or unintended developments — from Bill’s “fairy tale” and “false premise” comments concerning Obama’s stance on the Iraq war, to hints of black-brown animosities between African-American and Hispanic Democrats, to Hillary’s incessant “not qualified to lead” insinuations about Obama — the Clinton campaign signaled that if they were going to lose the black vote, they might as well turn it into an advantage with other elements in the Democratic coalition, notably white working-class voters.

Consequently, in a short span Hillary transformed from a celebrity into an object of scorn among numerous black Democrats. Was it inevitable? “I think once Obama became perceived as a viable candidate by the African-American community — that is, after Iowa — Clinton never had a chance to get any significant black vote,” electoral analyst Charlie Cook, of the “Cook Political Report,” told me. “I think President Clinton’s statements, and the interpretation of his statements, hurt with white liberals. But she was already hemorrhaging her black support and ultimately was destined to get very little.” Cook’s “perceived as viable” qualifier here is crucial. Obama was never guaranteed to be perceived as viable, even by African-Americans, as those October 2007 polls amply demonstrate.

That may help explain why South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, went from cautioning Bill Clinton to “chill out” in January to lambasting him by late April. “I think a lot of Clinton surrogates have been marginalizing, demonizing and trivializing Obama,” Clyburn bristled recently. When the former president complained that the Obama camp was playing the race card, Clyburn responded by dismissing the assertion as “bizarre” and reminding the public in a New York Times report that “it was the black community that bellied up to the bar” when Clinton faced impeachment. “I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation,” Clyburn scoffed.

So thanks to the Clintons, many white Democrats won’t vote for a black candidate, and many blacks may stay home in November if Hillary wins over the super-delegates (thus the Democrat nomination), despite Obama’s lead in the popular vote. The real deal is if Hillary can’t win the nomination, she will so damage Obama, he won’t win in November and she’ll be set up for 2012.

Tell you what: Howard Dean is presently accusing Republicans of using the race card against Democrats. Howard, Bill Clinton beat them to the punch back in South Carolina, and for centuries before that.