Oh what fun to see the Clintons lose! And really, it's over for them. You know how I know? Because today, Bill Clinton tore into Obama as a phony, to negative reviews. Watch:
It was a hard hit, but perfectly legitimate. When Wolf Blitzer played it for Donna Brazile on CNN this afternoon, her reaction was visceral. “As an African-American, I find his tone and his words very depressing," she said. Thus commenced a back and forth about the impropriety of the Clintons attacking a black politician. I was sorry, actually, to see Bill Bennett agreeing wholeheartedly with Brazile. Readers know I like Obama and hope he gets the Democratic nomination, but come on, surely it's wrong for people to accuse his political opponents -- Bill Clinton, for heaven's sake! -- of racial insensitivity, simply because they go hard after Barack Obama's record.
But you watch, that's exactly what's going to happen. It's why Hillary can't win. If she plays hardball politics with Obama, even if she never mentions race, she hurts herself with black voters. I have no doubt that Donna Brazile's reaction was as genuine as it was unfair. Obama's race is his Teflon. Perhaps Bill Bennett didn't challenge Donna Brazile on it because it pleases him so much to see the Clintons suffer, and, more broadly, it pleases him to see liberal Democrats like the Clintons suffer from the same kind of racial identity politics the left has practiced and perfected over the past generation.
Still, despite one's Schadenfreude over Hillary's political predicament, it's not encouraging to see that we now may be in a situation in which normal, legitimate hardball politics used against Barack Obama is considered illegitimate solely because of the color of his skin. If Obama is the nominee of the party, Republicans who take pleasure in the Clintons' inability to land a solid blow on him because of racial Teflon will regret it.
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There has been an article floating around the internet concerning the church where Obama is a member. Have you seen it? Is that yesterdays news. It was pretty disturbing to me.
Lies, lies, and more lies. Even those who serve their country with character aren't above telling them when it serves their purpose.
The message in the New Hampshire primary is to expect a polling gap for Obama. The biggest difference between Iowa and New Hampshire is the public nature of the Iowa caucuses, which more closely matches the conditions of an interview with a pollster. White voters will remain reluctant to publicly reject a Black candidate, for fear of being labeled racist, even if they hold legitimate concerns about his inexperience. However, in the privacy of the voting booth, they will follow the dictates of their consciences. I'd subtract at least 10 points from any lead that the polls give Obama from here on out.
Joe:
It's called the "Doug Wilder" effect.
Wilder had a 10-12 point lead in the polls in the 1989 Virginia governor's race over Republican Marshall Coleman on Election Day.
He won the closest election in commonwealth history (until the George Allen/Jim Webb imbroglio) by just a few thousand votes.
And it's exactly what you said -- white voters will SAY they will vote for an African-American candidate to pollsters so as not to appear racist, then vote for a white candidate in the privacy of the booth.
Even ostensibly liberal Democrats. Sad.
>Lies, lies, and more lies. Even those who serve their country with character aren't above telling them when it serves their purpose.
Why keep attacking Kerry? He's yesterday's news...
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