Last night’s South Carolina victory was splendid, and the Obama endorsements by Caroline Kennedy (in today’s N.Y. Times) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (the formal announcement will be made tomorrow) are well and good. But the bulk of Obama’s support is from better educated, higher-income Democrats, the independent sector and the under-30s, and this is not enough of a coalition to put him over in the Feb. 5 “tsunami Tuesday” Democratic primaries.
This and other considerations have been hitting me all morning and turning this into a Very Black Sunday. Billary’s success in framing the race in racial terms by selling the “Obama = black candidate” concept to their support base — i.e., the less-educated, middle and lower-middle income Democratic rank-and-filers who, let’s face it, tend to embrace simplistic racial-divide thinking more readily than the party’s better educated, more independent minded voters.
The Clintons knew exactly what they were doing, and they played it this way because they know most voters are malleable and manipulatable. Bill Clinton’s comment yesterday about how Jessie Jackson won twice in South Carolina in the ’80s was foul and despicable. I’ve hated politicians before, but the Clintons have done something truly ugly and repugnant here. I’m appalled and disgusted by them both. We are gradually painting a portrait of who and what we are in this primary election, and in the last couple of weeks we’ve seen some truly poisonous brush strokes dabbing the canvas. A curse on the Clintons, a pox on their house. Any friend of theirs is no friend of mind.
There was a poll mentioned by Chris Matthews this morning that showed people believe Obama to be much more of a uniter than Billary. Caroline Kennedy believes he is that kind of candidate; tens of thousands do. That was the pollen floating across this nation only 25 days ago, give or take. The only group that Billary is going to unite will be the Republicans — they’re in pig heaven right now, and no wonder. The word “Billary” has hereby been burned into the historical record as synonymous with sectarian divisiveness and feelings of deep loathing among a wide political spectrum of America.
This was going to be the year of a Democratic victory and a real turn in the road… hah! A part of me wants her to lose even if it means a Republican taking the White House. That’s irrational and unwise, I know, but I despise them that much.