Robinson on Clinton's race gambit
In a column in today's Washington Post, Eugene Robinson picks up on the same strategy I detected in the string of vaguely racially insensitive comments the Clinton camp made over the weekend. The basic argument is that Hillary realized that black voters were going to flock to Obama now that he's proven he can garner mainstream white support; thus, instead of courting those voters, she tried to gain support among white voters by attempting to bait Obama into playing the race card (which, as I pointed out, is one of the most serious accusations one can make in post-OJ Simpson trial America).
In her "Meet The Press" appearance on Sunday, Clinton did just that, accusing Obama of "deliberately distorting" her MLK comment, and "injecting race" into the debate, even though the complaints had been from neutral bystanders like House Majority Whip James Clyburn, and the Obama campaign had not even responded to the controversy as of Sunday morning, when Clinton appeared on the television show (later that day, Obama called the comment "ill-advised").
Since my post on the topic yesterday, a new poll found that black voters are in fact abandoning Clinton for Obama rapidly, and now support the latter by a ratio of 2-to-1. While that certainly doesn't prove the theory that Clinton was trying to force Obama to play the race card, the new data does help support my assertions that Hillary might be ceding the black vote to Obama, and that she desperately needs to shore up support among white voters (who are also moving towards Obama, though at a slower rate) to make up the difference.
Robinson compares the strategic value of Hillary's attempt to bait Obama into playing the race card to that of her husband's criticism of Sister Souljah's controversial comments during the 1992 Los Angeles riots (which, unlike anything Obama's done in this situation, warranted criticism):
The episode demonstrated that Clinton was not only tough on lawlessness but also willing to challenge "special interests" -- in this case, black activists.
The Clintons are reading the polls, too; they might well be resigned to the possibility that most black Democrats will vote for Obama. This would mean that South Carolina is probably already lost and that the campaign's focus now has to be on Florida and the many states whose delegates are up for grabs on "Tsunami Tuesday."
Is it possible that accusing Obama and his campaign of playing the race card might create doubt in the minds of the moderate, independent white voters who now seem so enamored of the young, black senator? Might that be the idea?
Yes, that's a cynical view. But history is history.
Last night, Obama called for a cooling-off between the two campaigns on the race controversy, and Clinton followed with a similar statement an hour later. I genuinely hope that the Clinton campaign drops these tactics immediately, because as Matt Bai points out, Bill and Hillary Clinton's legacies are at risk of being permanently tarnished. I thought Bill Clinton was a very good president overall, and I've always had a lot of respect for Bill and Hillary Clinton, even though I'm not pulling for her in the primaries this year. That's why I've been so shocked by the Clinton campaign's tactics during the last week - and that's why I hope we've seen the last of that kind of campaigning during the primaries.
Eugene Robinson: "A Hand the Clintons Aren't Showing" [Washington Post]
My original post: "Is Hillary playing the reverse race card?" [outragedmoderates.org]
Matt Bai: "The Clintons and History" [New York Times]
In her "Meet The Press" appearance on Sunday, Clinton did just that, accusing Obama of "deliberately distorting" her MLK comment, and "injecting race" into the debate, even though the complaints had been from neutral bystanders like House Majority Whip James Clyburn, and the Obama campaign had not even responded to the controversy as of Sunday morning, when Clinton appeared on the television show (later that day, Obama called the comment "ill-advised").
Since my post on the topic yesterday, a new poll found that black voters are in fact abandoning Clinton for Obama rapidly, and now support the latter by a ratio of 2-to-1. While that certainly doesn't prove the theory that Clinton was trying to force Obama to play the race card, the new data does help support my assertions that Hillary might be ceding the black vote to Obama, and that she desperately needs to shore up support among white voters (who are also moving towards Obama, though at a slower rate) to make up the difference.
Robinson compares the strategic value of Hillary's attempt to bait Obama into playing the race card to that of her husband's criticism of Sister Souljah's controversial comments during the 1992 Los Angeles riots (which, unlike anything Obama's done in this situation, warranted criticism):
The episode demonstrated that Clinton was not only tough on lawlessness but also willing to challenge "special interests" -- in this case, black activists.
The Clintons are reading the polls, too; they might well be resigned to the possibility that most black Democrats will vote for Obama. This would mean that South Carolina is probably already lost and that the campaign's focus now has to be on Florida and the many states whose delegates are up for grabs on "Tsunami Tuesday."
Is it possible that accusing Obama and his campaign of playing the race card might create doubt in the minds of the moderate, independent white voters who now seem so enamored of the young, black senator? Might that be the idea?
Yes, that's a cynical view. But history is history.
Last night, Obama called for a cooling-off between the two campaigns on the race controversy, and Clinton followed with a similar statement an hour later. I genuinely hope that the Clinton campaign drops these tactics immediately, because as Matt Bai points out, Bill and Hillary Clinton's legacies are at risk of being permanently tarnished. I thought Bill Clinton was a very good president overall, and I've always had a lot of respect for Bill and Hillary Clinton, even though I'm not pulling for her in the primaries this year. That's why I've been so shocked by the Clinton campaign's tactics during the last week - and that's why I hope we've seen the last of that kind of campaigning during the primaries.
Eugene Robinson: "A Hand the Clintons Aren't Showing" [Washington Post]
My original post: "Is Hillary playing the reverse race card?" [outragedmoderates.org]
Matt Bai: "The Clintons and History" [New York Times]
posted at 1:17:00 AM | permalink
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