Clinton, Obama on race
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- January
- 15
The recent flap about comments made by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband last week about the role of Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement generated a discussion about race at the outset of tonight’s Democratic debate.
“Sen. Obama and I agree completely that neither race nor gender should be a part of this race,’’ Clinton said in response to a question about how the controversy arose.
Clinton, noting today is King’s birthday, downplayed the recent exchanges between her campaign and Obama’s by attributing them to “exuberant and sometime uncontrollable supporters.’’
She agreed that Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson was out of bounds when he made public comments in front of Obama that indirectly referred to his youthful use of illegal drugs.
Obama, for his part, said race has always been an issue in America but all of the Democratic candidates are committed to racial equality.
“We can’t solve these challenges unless we come together as a people,’’ he said.
John Edwards, the odd man out in the discussion of race, noted that he grew up in the South at a time when there was segregation.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 9:31 pm by Brian Tumulty.
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Romney won Michigan. That was called at 9 p.m.—but not on the Hillary on the Hudson web blog.
This can get very ugly which ultimately can fracture the party and polarize the nation. At some point the issue of race needs to be raised.
I have already seen some black commentators raise the issue directly about electability and race. It needs to be handled delicately or else it will explode.
One way or another the country needs to look in the mirror on issues like this and discover who we really are.
the race issue was raised by Hillary when she insisted that
Martin Luther King’s work would not have come to fruition
unlesss he had a friendly President in the White House willing to sign the 1964 civil rights bill…This is a which
came first chicken or the egg argument..Did Martin Luther King cause the civil rights bill to become law ..or was
President Johnson’s willingness to make it law the main
factor…In that regard Hillary’s position became a polarizing one, simply because she was attempting to demonstrate that without the poltical will, nothing
could have happened…and she tried to translate that
into her committment to civil rights if she were the
President..Unfortunately for Hillary, you can’t demote
the meaning of what Martin Luther King Jr. meant to the
civil rights movement (even if you believe it) because
King is an icon for African Americans, and there really
is no reason to diminish his contribution by attributing
his accomplishments to a white president. What about the
rest of the US congress..what about the fact that the nation
was ready for change…who made the nation cognizant of the
need for change..It certainly was not any single politician
it was “the movement” and the movement was the creation
of Dr King and others..SO it is not surprising that
whether or not laws have to be enacted by the COngress
and signed by the PResident, African AMericans looked upon
Hillary’s statements as self serving, and as an attempt
to undermine Barack Obama, who just happens to be African
American. SHe deserved the backlash from the black community
that she got…Her judgement in making the comments illustrates that when it comes to raw political skills
she is certainly not in the category of her husband when
he ran for office…and the democrats are stuck with
her..Having said that, I am not sure that the nation is
ready to elect an African American, one term senator
to the presidency..New Hampshire illustrated that there
may be a gap between what voters say they would like to do and what they actually do when they get inside the voting
booth…And that was a fairly liberal sample of the
democratic party only…Barack will face Independents
and Conservative Democrats as well in the general election
and he will need to overcome that ingrained prejudice
if he is to be elected…and that will be the argument
that will be silently talked about among democrats
Is an African American candidate, no matter how educated
how talented, how charismatic, etc electible? Can
Barak Obama overcome any ingrained prejudice that exists
in the American electorate..And does his lack of long
term, major political experience, say in contrast to
Colin Powell mititgate against choosing him over a
Republican such as John McCain..that is the ultimate
question the democrats will have to answer as we
go into the major primary states on February 5th
My instinct is that the democrats will choose
the first female candidate, a woman who has plenty
of baggage but also plenty of experienc..and a
candidate who will not have to face the race issue
in a national campaign
True as the Consultant’s comments may be, they also
may be somewhat moot in the future. That’s because,
at least in my opinion, I think Romney can win it all.
I’m not a bandwagon jumper. I said he was a “dark horse”
all along, and I still think he can emerge from the
pack and win the presidency.
But as of right now, not a word of his win in Michigan
last night has appeared in this Hillary on The Hudson blog.
Romney would have been a contender had he not abandon
so many positions he held as governor of Mass..There was
a very sobering op ed in the Times the other day by
a former staffer who said that Romney was virtually
unrecognizable from his former self…and that he was
a really competent manager who should have presented himself
as such rather than attempting to pander to the social
conservatives in the party…Romney’s win in Michigan
is meaningless because he was expected to win a state
where his dad was governor…South Carolina will test
his mettle and it is my judgement that McCain will be
the default candidate of the conservative base in
South Carolina, and going forward in the February 5th
super Tuesday primary contests where delegate counts
will be very important…Romney simply does not have
the confidence of the average Republican Primary voter
He has changed positions on too many issues over the
years ..which is really too bad because in terms of
overall voter appeal in the general election, had Romney
stayed true to his original convictions…(he could have
simply changed on the life issue alone)..he would
have been viewed as a white knight riding to the
rescue of the economy which turned out to be as
important as Iraq if not more so..
Consultant, I agree that Romney has given
something of a John Kerry impression.
But I still think he can win the nomination.
Respectfully said…..
You clearly are talking Westchester politics again. Social Issues are paramount in National GOP elections.
Your Comment – “Romney would have been a contender had he not abandon
so many positions he held as governor of Mass”
Campaign opinions to that statment – Romney would be sitting with Rudy in the corner of nowhere land with 4 & 5th place finishes in the early primary states had not changed his positions on social issues.
NOTE – Social Conservatives are now willing to look and feel Romney out in the last two weeks. Helping him to achieve the goal.
Your Comment – “As per NY Times story that Romney should have never changed his positions and pander to social conservatives” (Ask Rudy about this theory)
Campaign Opinion on that statment – First off, what GOP Consultant would listen to anything the NY Times says? Who cares what they say.
Fact of the matter (I have been saying this since summer on the blog and others)...Social Conservatives rank first in Presidential Politics!
Pro-life, Gay Rights & 2A is a major winning view on National Level.
Can you name the last GOPer Presidential Candidate who was pro-choice and Pro-Gay Rights?
Was a pro-choice candidate ever elected by the base?
Why do all candidates run as social conservatives?
Why is Rudy trying like heck to cater to social conservatives?
Rudy changes his tunes almost 100% on his past comments because the leadership has told him he needs the social conservatives or he is through.
Those who I know working in the various campaigns are telling me that leadership wants this primary over now.
Romney (I am no big fan of his) might be the chosen one.
BTW….You heard it here first, Thompson still hangs on and is gaining establishment interest if Romney falls.
Stay tuned.
Jim Kelly, the “wide right” Bills’ fan—and with
a name like Jim Kelly he should be a Bills’ fan.
The Consultant has been a Rudy guy, and he is
starting to morph into a McCain guy as Rudy
may be sinking like George Pataki in his last term.
I’ve felt for months that Romney could emerge and
get the nomination. I also wonder if a Romney-
Thompson ticket would be a winner. Maybe.
The Rudy Strategy for the remainder of this election.
Campaign in Florida.
Collect all the business cards you can from corporations while you are campaigning.
Announce you are dropping out of the race as you have lost every primary thus far by placing third or fourth place.
Go back to the private sector making millions as you made new connections to corporations from the business cards you have collected.
Jim Kelly – NY Conservative Campaigns