(no subject)

[novapsyche]

So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by "hard-working Americans, white Americans," and that her opponent, Barack Obama, the black candidate, just can't cut it with that crowd.

"There's a pattern emerging here," said Mrs. Clinton.

There is, indeed. There was a name for it when the Republicans were using that kind of lousy rhetoric to good effect: it was called the Southern strategy, although it was hardly limited to the South. Now the Clintons, in their desperation to find some way — any way — back to the White House, have leapt aboard that sorry train.

He can't win! Don't you understand? He's black! He's black!

I don't know if Senator Obama can win the White House. No one knows. But to deliberately convey the idea that most white people — or most working-class white people — are unwilling to give an African-American candidate a fair hearing in a presidential election is a slur against whites.

--Seeds of Destruction

DailyKos diary (as usual, the comments are equally edifying)

The "Bitter" End -- worthwhile read

DailyKos diary: 'If Hillary did not mean "white Americans" statement in a racist way, why hasn't she clarified?'

Hillary's "white Americans" comment causing a quick firestorm (from 5/8/08)

Comments

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

I think her awkward phrasing made it sound more offensive than what she really meant. I think it's more about class distinctions than race, although there's some implication in there about lower-class black people supporting Obama when they wouldn't have supported a similar white person.

Still, I don't get why none of the media reports (even The Daily Show) are calling her on her assumption that just because a demographic prefers her to Obama that they'll prefer McCain to Obama.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Actually, many guests have been saying on MSNBC that it's ludicrous to think that Clinton voters would break Republican. Dan Abrams put that in particular perspective when he said that white women would get The Fear when they realize that McCain is for packing the Supreme Court with Roe v. Wade overturners.

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

That's good, then. I missed that.

Kennedy was Catholic

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Back in the day, they said that Kennedy wasn't electable because of his Irish Catholic ethnic minority status.

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

There is an interesting historical analogy: in Germany in the 1930s working class aryans who had never been to university were the core constituency of the Nazi party. The argument that Clinton can win the votes of bigots cuts both ways, since the percentage of voters who will not vote for a woman is as high or higher than the percentage who will not vote for an African-American. And looking to the autumn the percentage of voters who will not vote for an elderly candidate is greater than of those who decide on the basis of gender or ethnicity.

[timiathan.livejournal.com]

Honestly, as much as I despise Hillary Clinton, I didn't take that comment to be racist. Just really unfortunate syntax. I think she meant hard working Americans were one group that supported her, and that white Americans were another group that supported her. Not that they were the same people.

Although I can't rule out the the slip was Freudian. And I don't know why she hasn't clarified.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I must respectfully disagree with your assessment. I agree with many Kossacks who've come to the conclusion that Clinton chose to employ dogwhistle politics at the expense of the Democratic party. The funny thing is, when I first heard it, I thought it was benign, too! I guess I just was unaccustomed to hearing naked racial tones expressed that way (or, perhaps more to the truth, I'd gotten so used to hearing them from political pundits that it just didn't faze me when a presidential contender uttered them).

I just finished reading all the comments in this DailyKos diary. Hundreds of comments--and this is the day after, past the initial shock and after pundits and others had a chance to dissect the statement. (I haven't even made it back to the day of the comment--I wasn't online much when she dropped those words.)

[timiathan.livejournal.com]

Well, I respect your opinion...maybe I should watch it again. I only heard the sound byte on the radio, and it just seemed like silly politics to me.