Reposted: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Race as a Campaign Tactic

Barack Obama's consistently upscale performance over the past few weeks, including the recent win in the Wisconsin primary, seems to have unsettled Hillary Clinton. The former first lady has responded by hinting that the Obama is big on words, but empty on action.

Clinton made the allegation against Obama while speaking to an audience rally at Youngstown, Ohio, the night after she was defeated by Obama in the Wisconsin primary. She told the gathering that the primary campaign is "about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work—on hard work to get America back to work." She then went on to tell the audience that the "best words in the world are not enough" unless they are matched with action.

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"Peace on earth and goodwill to all living beings?"

"And how do we get there?"

"We elect someone who's going to end the Iraq war plus turning things around here at home."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

I cannot begin to tell you how disapointed i have become with what i have seen happen to Buzzflash.I have been a fan of this site for many years,but the hate i have seen in story after story is just a total turn off.
If Hillary were to win how could you say you would then support her?You would have to do a compleat turn around.Don't see how you could do that.
The way i see it obama has done more to split the Dem. party then the Reps. ever could, Rove could not do it better.
I do know in my family we have dicided we will not suport him.
you and the news media have painted him as a god, while making both the Clintons as something evil.
I have never in my life given a Rep. vote,but this could be my first along with 24 of my family members plus i have not talked to any friends that will vote for him.
This bises news is turning people off to him. HE DOES NOT WALK ON WATER..
Helen in NC

Obama put his career on the line in 2002, there was no guarantee that Americans would ever wake up about Iraq. The 2002 Authorization WAS an authorization for war, it was a blank check for the idiot George Bush to slaughter innocent people!!!! I KNEW, OBAMA KNEW, Clinton tries to say we didnt know what we knew, but we knew, and we told it like it is. Obama took a risk in 2002 for what is right, he chose a side, he didnt try to have it both ways, he took a position. Only years later did the rest of the country come around and see that OBAMA WAS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT about Iraq.

Obama is not out trying to deceive Americans about a so-called health care plan. Obama is honest about health care. Clintons "plan" is a farce, Clintons plan is for everybody to just buy health insurance policies from the insurance companies. It is a farce, it is nonsense, it is deceitful to call it a plan, it is not a "plan" at all.

Obama is a winner, he will stand up for whats right, he did so in 2002. It is NO EXCUSE to say "I was a Senator". Being a Senator is no excuse for supporting the idiot George Bushs pre-emptive slaughter. Being a Senator is big-time responsibility - not an excuse.

The latest CNN poll shows Obama and Clinton are in a statistical dead heat for the March 4th Texas shoot-out. This poll is supported by two other news organization polls, which show a similar tie.

However, that may change after tomorrow night, when Obama will likely score his 9th and 10th straight win over the Clinton machine in Hawaii and Wisconsin.

With this breath-taking winning streak, many more Texan Democrats will likely decide to hitch their vote to the winner's wagon.

The Clintonistas would like us to believe that Clinton is losing all these contests because of a vast right-wing conspiracy of "Kool Aide drinkers," "Obama cult" members, and corporate-owned news media, which are all working against her.

Yeah, right.

The real reason Clinton keeps losing is that the majority of voters keep choosing Obama over her. This is the phenomenon we call a "democracy." In a democracy, winners are picked by a majority of voters.

Sadly, some people are only happy with elections when they are fixed. Generally, those people are called Republicans.

I too no longer rely on BuzzFlash. It may not be pure Limbaugh/Hannity "Hillary Hatred", but it is not far from it.

"Being of a particular gender does not excuse one from accountability."

Either does being black, but apparently it is impossible to say anything non fawning and worshipful about Obama without becomming immediately a racist.

Fisrt of all. There is no way a black is going to win the general election, even the perfect, born in a manger Obama. A blow out election in the US is 49 - 51%. Elections are won by a few points in a few states. Omama is an ultra liberal; great in the Democratic primary, not so great in the general. Remember DuCaCaAss, remember Fritz and Geri, remember Eugene, he lost 49 states. Someone once told Aldi Stevenson she was cetain every thinking person in the country would vote for him. He said, "Yes, but we need a majority."

Hillary has strong centerists credentials. Exactly what's killing her in the primaries is the reason she can be a viable candidate in a general election.

Trivia Question for all you hard core politicos: Did Obama vote against the war?????

answer: not unless the Illinois state legislature held a referendum. He had not won his special (all black) election against Alen Keys in 2002, a year of trauma and ultra patriotism, everybody wearing American flag lapel pins, questioning each other's nationalistic fanaticism. He did not represent a rabid constintuinicy, much less one that had suffered a direct hit on the day of Cheney's staged false flag operation.

It is much easier to compalin and second guess than to actually cast a vote, on a bill that was destined to pass anyway. And even back then it did not take much of a genius to predict that the invasion was destined to be a debachle.

Obama did not vote for the invasion, true, but he did not vote against it. While in the Senate he voted for every continuing funding resolution.

Obama's campaign is headed by a member of the Skull and Bones. More white males voted for him in Idaho than there are people registered in the Idaho Democratic party. Why? because a vote for Obama is a vote for Repuglican victory in November.

Come on people? Buzzflash should be exposing Obama as a Rovian plot, not falling for the Kumbia happy talk that sinks the Democratic party every time. I'm sure he's a nice person but this is no time to 'shoot for the moon and nominate some ideal ulta liberal. The right wing is not going to suddenly roll over and fold its tent. If the last eight years has taught us anything it is that we have to fight and claw against this madness every day.

I love Hillary precisely because they hate her so much. They hate her because they know she will kick some ass. And she will keep kicking thier ass until we win back all the ground we have lost. This is no time for idealism. I don't want recociliation, I want retaliation.

the cooler

Well it happens when you side with one or the other. At present I have stopped listening to liberal talk radio because Ed Schultz has become so biased it makes me sick. Listen to the other talkers like Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Lionel. They do have their points and favorites, but express concern that both are good candidates. A recent caller to Ed Schultz show said it was so bad he now listens to the Right wing radio for relief. So I tried it and behold they were saying sugar coated things about Obama and bashing Hillary. Hannity had a call in on Friday from Obama voters. Bill O'Rielly on Mon Feb 18 column in the newspaper also said good thinks about Obama, and then bashed Hillary. Are we not concerned why the other side is doing that. I think they are planting the news thru the Right wing Corporate media in favor of Obama. They would rather run against Obama then Hillary. Are we being duped. Check it out and you will get the same thing, why is O'Rielly being niece to Obama. So buzzflash.com is also having problems. Maybe its to divide us up, and we do know one thing about the other side (Republican) When we sleep they are plotting, when were awake they are lying, and when we confront them they deny saying it. So be aware of this whole election and watch the other side. Sorry you got involved as being biased, which is the problem with Democrats, we have to many groups and it's hard to get them all together. So splitting us up is easy.
Do you really think Obama is going to have a free ride to the White House. Watch out for the swift boaters and the race card to be used. Hillary has been thru most of that already and is my choice against the Republicans. But I will vote for Obama if he is OUR choice. Its the experience that is my concern.

Isn't this a line from Karl Rove?

I'm with Buzz all the way. The Clinton supporters who take umbrage at every less than enthusiastic comment about Clinton and say that it's all sexist and/or racist and worse are their candidate's own worst enemy. If powerful people in her official campaign staff are behind the vitriol and snide remarks shame on them and shame on her for not stopping them.
Same goes on the Obama side. Buzz is experiencing the effect of overwrought Clinton supporters but Paul Krugman and others say the Obama camp is as bad or worse. Again, if official and highly placed campaign staff are behind slander and rumor mongering etc they too should be ashamed.

The rest of us should stick with the big public record. Hillary Clinton voted with the Republicans and the majority of Democrats, sad to say, to give George Bush the authority to use military action in Iraq. She has neither disavowed that vote nor been able to provide a coherent defense of her decision. She became uncharacteristically incoherent on the subject in the last debate before Super Tuesday. Bill Clinton did her no favor at all by injecting irrelevant racial remarks in South Carolina just before that primary by saying, in effect, well Jesse Jackson won in South Carolina too, what do you expect. I thought it was outrageous. Jesse Jackson was a black candidate who is from Chicago. Barack Obama is a black candidate who is from Chicago. So what the f?

On the Iraq vote it is easy for Obama to say he opposed the war from the beginning. He wasn't in the Senate in Oct. 2002 with his finger in the wind, as many Democrats were, struggling between principle and what seemed to be political expediency. So his opposition to invading Iraq may be serious and genuine, no reason to suspect it is not, but Clinton could just say, well, you weren't there and I was. Fair enough.

Like a bad marital argument, once the accusations start flying it's hard for anyone to say anything without risking being misunderstood and also demonstrating that, in fact, the speaker is just as much a jerk as the other person.

Don't we agree that we need a Democrat in the White House in Jan 2009?

I've written on Buzzflash before that I think that the likelihood that the Democrats can win in November has made a lot of us crazed. First, I know from polling my own circle of family and friends from coast to coast that some were and remain passionately attached to one candidate or the other, but that the majority feel ambivalent and some still paralyzed by indecision. In this case, once we've made up our minds we may latch onto all kinds of reasons to justify our choice - sudden enthusiasm for the one we've marked the ballot for and sudden disgust at the other candidate's faults and weaknesses.

Keep cool. This is an intramural fight. The big goal is to get a Democrat in the White House, get more Democrats in Congress and then hold our new president to a very high standard, starting about a year from now.

(I would add the latest contribution from Robert Parry. Not yet up on Consortium News but
posted by Alternet. http://www.alternet.org/election08/77287/
Thanks to Citizen Over 50 for the other links)

Colleen Clark
Cambridge, MA

(They're trying to BAMBOOZLE you it's the old OKIE-DOKIE ya'll know about OKIE-DOKIE right they try to BAMBOOZLE you HOODWINK YA trying to HOODWINK ya) this was part of Senator Obamas stump speech on 1-24-08 before the SC Primary. And when he referred to John Edwards with the Southern white male remark during a debate and nudged him as if Edwards got the Joke but he did't he was speechless. And why is it ok for African Americans to use racist words and no one cares there are whites and Blacks in this party and if it keeps going its going to split this party if it has'nt already no ones blameless on this and at this point i could careless who wins.Just so you Know I voted for Edwards in Fla's Beauty contest and we were Informed whether people acknowleged it or not and the only Ads that were run 10 days prior were Senator Obamas.

David Shuster'a comment was about Bill Clinton and Mrs. Bill Clinton, not Chelsea.

It was also true.

And there it would have been no big deal if it involved any other public figures than the Clintons.

OK, so Hillary is too centrist. I get that, Buzz, and have for a long time. But in the effort to defeat her, Democrats and other progressives for Obama must NOT do it like Republicans. If you buy now into the media presentation of "racism" in the Clinton campaign, and act on it, and rant and rave about it, then your defenses will be correspondingly less later on when, whoever the Democratic nominee is, the famous "liberal media" is cutting St. John of McCain every break in the book while they butcher the Democratic candidate.

The racist angle in South Carolina, especially, has been set up by the media ever since Obama got into the race. I heard the comments by Bill Clinton, and Hillary, and racism just wasn't there. As for the "aides," remember, Buzz, your main argument, at heart, is simply guilt by association. Republicans and the MSM have successfully used that method to defeat good Democrats since 1980. MSM complicity has been especially vigourous since 1994. Those Democrats who let the media get away with it now, when it is working against everybody's favorite villain, are buying trouble for themselves and the country in November.

Anyone who thinks that a media savaging can't happen with Obama hasn't been paying attention for the last 15-20 years or else is just now coming of age and doesn't know.

By all means, hold Hillary's feet to the fire on Iraq, on trade, on any other issue, and be as vicious as you want about policy choices. Save the real venom for Republicans.

John F. Colorado

Why would Bill and Hillary play the race card right before the South Carolina Primary, the first in which African Americans made up almost half of the electorate? Why not wait until after that election?

Obama needed South Carolina after his stunning loss in New Hampshire, and he needed the African American vote to come home for that to happen.

Put me in the group that thinks Hillary got Swiftboated.

Having said that, I have no justification for Bill Clinton's linking Obama to Jesse Jackson on the night of the South Carolina Primary. That, and Huckabee dragging up the Confederate Flag issue from 2000 are playing the race card. Calling Obama's position on the war a "fairytale" was factually false. Noting Lyndon Johnson's contribution to the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was factually accurate. But neither comment should be seen as having racial overtones just because someone claims to take racial offense by it.

This whole dispute has substantially dampened my enthusiasm for whoever emerges from the Democratic Primaries.

It has dampened my enthusiasm for Obama because he, in my view, created this wedge in the Democratic Party, which was until the aftermath of the New Hampshire Primary united on the issue of race. It has dampened my enthusiam for Hillary because I have grown very tired of her spouse, who I think is out of control.

They're all over the internet. A real organized effort by none other than that guy who is running the Clinton campaign: the deposed and despised Terry McAuliff. Remember when we GRASS ROOTS Democrats went crazy and wanted Howard Dean to replace HIM? Their answer was to relegate us to the corner and call us left wing liberal radicals (again) (YAWN).

You have GOT to see what Consortium News has to say about this issue: I offer some tremendous links here to read three quick stories:

Explaining Consortium News' View on the Race:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/021608.html

Explaining how politicians keep their dirty secrets dirty and why no new politician will EVER investigate and litigate the crimes that came before their term in office:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/021008a.html

Explaining how the (so called) "Greatest" Generation (that only fought 4 years) let down their children, the boomers; and the children of generations after that:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/021108.html

I promise this is not that long of a read and you will NEVER BE SORRY you clicked on these links.