Voting and silliness continues
With wins in Wyoming this weekend and Mississippi last night, Obama made up all the delegates Hillary gained on him in Ohio and Rhode Island on March 4th. He is also set to add more delegates when the Texas caucus results are finalized.
According to Bloomburg News: “With the win in Mississippi, Obama has now won 29 contests compared with 15 for Clinton. In overall votes Obama has about 13.3 million to 12.6 million for Clinton, based on unofficial returns.”
AP exit polls suggest Obama won 90 percent of the black vote in Mississippi.
Meantime Geraldine Ferraro, former vice-presidential candidate and “unpaid Clinton fundraiser,” as I guess we’re referring to her now, is defending the statement she made to a newspaper in California Tuesday that “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”
David Axelrod, Obama’s campaign manager, went after her hard, calling her remarks racist divisionary politics. Obama told the Today Show that it was another example of “slice and dice politics … which are about race and about gender and about this and that, and that’s what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can’t solve problems.”
Ferraro is standing by the comment but Hillary has begged off. Referencing the “She’s a monster” comments made by Obama adviser Samantha Power earlier in the week, Clinton said: “On both sides, some of our supporters have crossed the line and gotten personal. We have to keep this contest about the issues.”
Ferraro’s comments aren’t racist. They’re just stupid. They are meant to belittle Obama’s accomplishments. The idea that Obama is enjoying special privileges as a black man in this race is to miss the point entirely. The attention he has received because of his race is merely an acknowledgment of the daunting odds against a black man becoming president. For him even somehow to have surmounted the million obstacles, large and small, and make his way as a black man into the arena is one thing. To shine there as he has done is another, gaining support across demographics and leading the race for the nomination. Ferraro is no racist. She’s just another damn fool Democratic leader caught up in the destructive silliness that has taken over this primary race.
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Does Obama know about this website? He should considering how much you plug him…
“Plug him?” Yes, I guess it’s our version of what Christoper Hitchens calls his own “sort of going queer for Obama.” Obama’s a compelling figure, whatever you think of his politics. And Hillary lately just makes him look so good by acting so badly. To be fair, it should be recalled how much we also enjoyed writing about Mitt Romney. He provided an endless stream of entertaining material. We’ll turn to McCain in the weeks ahead, promise.
Ferraro is not a redneck racist, but I do believe she is a liberal racist. By that I mean one who, subconsciously perhaps, justifies race-based initiatives because of a belief that blacks innately need some advantage to compete with whites. If you’re racing against somebody you think can actually beat you, you don’t give him a head start. The liberal racist is willing to give a head start because, deep down, she knows she’s superior and can still win. When things backfire, like Obama actually winning, Ferraro feels compelled to remind the public that he’s there only because of the head start he got because he’s black. It’s not fair that he should actually win! This is the insidious nature of race-based initiatives.
BTW, I’m not saying that everybody who supports affirmative action is a liberal racist. There certainly are legitimate reasons for affirmative action (although I think race ought to be eliminated as a factor). But when you see comments like Ferraro’s it’s a pretty good indicator that she is a racist of a different color.
Great idea Anonymous - Obama’s camp should learn about this site…
Race/Gender are major topics on everybody’s mind - yet no-one is talking about it. However, as we near the next turning point in this campaign much more will surface. People will find themselves thinking outloud more and more.