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Obama '08! The urgency is fierce and the urgency is NOW!
As I white liberal who is disgusted with the racial overtones of their campaign, I will say this: I will not vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstances this year. If I have to hold my nose, vomit several times while I'm in the voting booth, and vote for Romney, I will.
I long for the days when politicians said, "I had a good run," after leaving the presidency and left leadership to a new generation of people. Both Bush and Clinton undid that, tragically for the country.
It turns out this has happened before. The president's name: Abraham Lincoln
The Clintons weren't going to give up without a fight. That's why they went after him with the "drug dealer" rumor. How Karl Rove of them. What's next? Obama has a black child? (Hey look, they tried it with the kindergarten story).
That's why Bill wined and dined the editors of the Des Moines Register so they would endorse Miss Hillary. They won't stop until they scorch earth on their rivals.
I picked up on the undercurrent you mentioned. I thought I was being to sensitive, but now that others are noticing it too, I see not...
While I appreciate this view, Hillary was not elected and was not duty bound to respond to demands of the electorate. She was a president's wife, or -- at best -- a president's informal advisor. I fail to see how that should matter. (It's an oddly un-feminist argument.) Hillary is no more "experienced" than Obama. In fact, I think the whole "experience" argument is really just an argument that Hillary is older. They're banking on the fact that older voters won't want a post-baby boom black guy. I'm not african american and I'm not someone to see thing through a prism of race. But I find it all quite disgusting.
It all reeks of a co-ordinated attack to me. It's shameful. If Hillary wanted to do the honorable thing, she'd lose Iowa, gracefully bow out and then run for Senate Majority Leader.
It seems to me the Clintons are attempting to tar Obama as a "boy" -- with all the disrespectful, condescending, immasculating, just-who-does-he-think-he-is connotations that the historical use of that word implies -- but they are very cunning and keeping it just below most white peoples' conscious radar.
Exactly. And if you ask me, it started with the first "naive and irresponsible" stuff Hillary was bandying about (at least, that's the first incident I noticed).
In talking with some younger Black folks (on mydd) I saw that it flew right over their heads - which I am not sure is a good thing, but it's definitely an anti-Black stereotype with a history - "Black folks are childlike and naive, irresponsible, can't handle complex tasks, can't be trusted to make good decisions, etc".
I think even most people who that might have heard the echoes of slurs past gave Clinton the benefit of the doubt, simply because of their history of supposedly doing so much good and being so popular among Blacks. Probably a lot of people are re-thinking that one, though.
I am not particularly excited about any of the candidates, but I have said in the past that I would vote in the general for Clinton or Obama and bring the entire family along, as well... just for the historic aspect of voting for the first woman or Black president.
I will be revising that decision, I think, after all this subtle and not so subtle racist stuff from the Clinton campaign, as well some of the surrogates and supporters. I fully believe that type of stuff comes from the top, through winks and nods.
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Dear g.d.
I want to provide you with additional information regarding Senator Obama. In his tenure, he has authored or co-sponsored 37 bills, including the Coburn-Obama bill that went into effect this weekend. The Coburn-Obama bill, aka the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, creates a Google-like search engine and database to track approximately $1 trillion in federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans.
The 37 bills also include:
1. A co-author of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (S. 2180). The bill would lengthen the cooling off period to two years for lawmakers and staff who seek to become lobbyists, and it would require immediate disclosure as soon as any job negotiations begin.
2. He authored the Sheltering All Veterans Everywhere Act (SAVE Act) (S. 1180) to strengthen and expand federal homeless veteran programs that serve over 100,000 homeless veterans annually.
3. During the debate on the Fiscal Year 2007 budget, Senator Obama passed an amendment to increase funding for homeless veterans programs by $40 million. These funds would benefit programs that provide food, clothing, mental health and substance abuse counseling, and employment and housing assistance to homeless veterans.
4. Barack Obama's first bill as a U.S. Senator was the HOPE Act (Higher Education Opportunity Through Pell Grant Expansion Act) (S.697), which would help make college more affordable for many Americans. The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant from the current limit of $4,050 to a new maximum of $5,100.
5. Senator Obama, working with Senator Lautenberg, introduced tough legislation to drastically improve security at our nation's chemical plants. The Chemical Safety and Security Act (S. 2486) would establish a clear set of federal regulations that all plants must follow. Plants that are considered a high risk to large population areas or critical infrastructure would face more stringent standards. The bill requires chemical facilities to take steps to enhance security, including improving barriers, containment, mitigation, and safety training, and, where possible, using safer technology, such as less toxic chemicals or safer procedures.
6. After visiting weapons stockpiles in Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, Senators Lugar and Obama introduced S. 2566, which would expand the cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons.
The information on what Barack Obama has done as a U.S. Senator is accessible and easy to find. He has passed, authored and co-sponsored more legislation in two years than John Edwards did in six, and passed more substantive legislation than Hillary Clinton has in seven years.
I have always thought the madrassa story was planted by HRC, as well. And the ongoing, Is he black enough one as well.
I really am not surprised by anything the Clintons do and how far they will stoop for power and the limelight. They are self serving and self involved and do not think outside of the me, me, me style baby boomer stereotype.
David Corn wrote an article 2 weeks ago pretty much saying the clintons and their people hate Obama. The mindset is to destroy him. They feel How dare he thinks he can deny Hillary the nomination. The whole sense of entitlement but, also what hung in the remarks was 'uppity'.
So, yeah, They will use the old under the radar race thing that many old southerns may pick up on as well.
Look at Bob Kerry's remarks today about Obama when he endorsed Hillary. It was frankly disgusting that they still have not learned.
I am a white babyboomer female who cannot stand the Clintons and what they have become.
But, this is what desperation will do. Your ugly side comes out.
I also live in Illinois so Obama is my senator. Let me say, that this man has a great deal of respect and you should have seen all the ages and races, mostly white, who were crazy enough to stand in 10 degree weather to witness Obama's announcement speech, including my husband and myself.
The fact is that many people in this country really love Obama and take offense to this type of thing.
after 12 years in the arkansas governor's mansion, and 8 years in the white house, and over 6 years in the senate... the clintons are beginning to show their TRUE COLORS! who does that BOY think he is?!? and what makes him think that he can run against the family that all you Black people should love and adore?
we are now seeing the clintons for what they always have been... condescending, good-ole-boys, who can fake a black southern accent at the mere mention of a black church!
i have to ask the question: who the "fudge" does bill clinton think he is?!? without the Black vote, his wife is persona non-grata!
to be honest, if she wins the nomination, i'm going to have problems voting for hillary... i really am!
And I just want to say, it's all fine and dandy that those of us who actually read blogs are expressing our outrage about this. But please inform your peeps. We know good and well a lot of "us" don't follow this stuff like we should. This nasty attack on Obama should be a hot topic in every beauty salon, barber shop, and black church. Please, tell Pookie and Keisha what's going on because we know good and well that they don't know and will cast a vote for anyone named Clinton.
Right now, he's out of his league. He'd do more good as a VP right now, and THEN he'd have the coronation that Clinton expected.
We often note that particular detail about Obama's biography to show that he's smart and well-qualified. However, it's more than that.
These forms of "elite discrimination" that are being thrown at Obama the past few weeks are not anything he hasn't seen before. This is not the first time he has encountered people using a paternalism mentality to try to keep him from getting ahead or dealing with people who reduce all his qualifications and merits down to "he's only winning because he's black" or people who try to stoke on people's fears because he's black.
He could not have gone to Columbia and Harvard and been as successful as he has been in those environments without being exposed to this and still learning how to come out on top. It's something many African Americans encounter everyday, especially these "elite forms of discrimination" we're seeing from the Clintons that black middle-class people who work in the halls of power and privilege encounter and learn to navigate.
The good thing about Obama is that he brilliant enough to know how to navigate it, come out on top, but most importantly still not lose soul. Hallelujah!
So as far as I'm concerned, he is handling all of this perfectly. He knows how to pick and choose his battles. He doesn't need to hold a press conference on the racial undertones (something the old school black leadership might have done) because I think black people can put two and two together. Bloggers and black radio and other people can do that heavy lifting for him. He just needs to keep talking about the issues, organizing, and keeping his eyes on the prize.
As for the post immediately above, I whole heartedly agree. Obama knows how to stand up to this BS without being angry. Hillary's laugh and his response to that was an example of that. The laugh itself was condescending and reflective of a larger theme ("ha ha ha, this guy thinks he can be President. He's black he should be happy being a Senator,") that's coming out of the Clinton campaign. I'm sure Obama felt some, understandable, anger at that moment. It's an anger than blacks must feel every day.
A politician that was less ready for prime time would've interrupted Hillary and berated her for not letting him answer the question. Obama let the sad spectacle continue, and then calmly destroyed Hillary with wit. It was an incredible moment. And should Obama go on to be President of the United States, that will be the moment that people look back on as pivotal in his campaign.
Most people have been conned can spot a con. And it's not surprising that those who've never been conned, can't spot one. The con won't announce himself as such, and the con-job won't always be readily apparent. But if you acknowledge that cons and con-jobs exist in a myriad of ways, and if you're willing to be astute and cognizant of it, you might just spot a well-disguised con here and there.
That's kinda how racism in 2007 works. The racist won't announce him or herself, and their racism won't always be readily apparent. But if you're astute, cognizant and know that it exists in a myriad of ways, you'll be able to spot it from time to time.
To answer Bill Clinton's question, can someone whose prior experience consisted of eight years in the Illinois state legislature and two years in Congress make a good president?
It turns out this has happened before. The president's name: Abraham Lincoln
Sun Dec 16, 04:32:00 PM 2007"
If the Obama Comm's Team were smart (and that's an open debate), your suggeston would be a commercial...
Have a blank screen flashing all of the comments of his critics about how someone with his limited experience is ready for the presidency...then the question "Are they right?" then a pregnant pause with a slow fade-in of Abraham Lincoln with Obama saying something like "History says otherwise."
Suprised this forum would want to compare Obama to the "party of racial politicking" in ANY way.
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7090.html
These people are disgusting. I don't know who these dumb negroes are that refuse to vote for Barack, but they need their black cards taken away and quickly!
The Hillary people remind me more and more of that line that Ann Richards used against Bush's father: "He was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple." Hillary started her career as a candidate for the US Senate because she began with the advantage of inheriting her husband's enormous political machine and cadres of people who felt that if they did not support her, they would wind up on the wrong side of the President and his large power network. Yet she acts as if she's been toiling in the political vineyards.
The nerve of the Clintons to suggest that it's Obama who has not paid his dues.
Oh, and Bill of course told a classic little Clintonian lie, when he said that Obama began running "one year" after being sworn it. Some of us wish he started that early, but of course it was two years. In and of itself not a big deal, but emblematic of the fact that the Clintons are so hungry to hold on to power that they feel the need to embellish and lie even these little details.
I've watched Charlie Rose for a long time and I've never heard him inflect his voice like that...Even Charlie could see through Bubba's BullSh#t.
Then Bubba compares Obama to a plumber/chef while Hillary is a surgeon...the inherent racism...Bubba's dismissal of Obama's work prior to the US Senate...
The greatest irony is that I can now relate to the republican hatred of the 90s...dayum-near unimaginable...it's a visceral anger...just seeing Bubba/Billary on TV.
May we please change the channel? May we please turn the page, close this chapter?
Besides, who the hell wants Hillary's brand of experience anyhow? The Andrew Sullivan quote is the perfect distillation of her character: "She's Dick Cheney in a pant suit".
And if Hillary really wants more experience in the white house, then she should bow out and endorse Dodd.