Class, Not Race, Divides the Democrats

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/class_not_race_divides_the_dem.html

January 17, 2008

By Marie Cocco

WASHINGTON -- A truce has been called in the racial feud between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but not before it stained both with the residue of their own follies. The peril for the Democratic Party is not as obvious as media simpletons say.

It is not only true that Clinton, if she is the eventual nominee, could suffer from lingering bitterness among African-American voters, who must turn out strongly if any Democrat is to be elected president. And it's not that Obama will lose white women and men who have supported him in Iowa and New Hampshire, and who already support him in significant numbers in polls conducted throughout the country. These voters probably made up their minds about the two candidates some time ago.

The greater danger is that white, working and middle-class voters may turn away because the racial shouting match did not -- and will not, if it resumes -- speak to them at all.

The deepest division in the Democratic primary campaign until now has not been between blacks and whites, though we are likely to see stark evidence of that in the upcoming South Carolina primary. A fault line already is visible between upper-income, educated whites and those with lower incomes and less education. The upscale voters have gone with Obama, the downscale with Clinton.

The divide was hinted at as early as Iowa, but went mostly unremarked in the euphoria over Obama's win. Nonetheless, Iowa caucusgoers began to shape a profile in which Obama fares worse among those with lower incomes and among union members, for example, than he does with more affluent voters. These contours took clear form in New Hampshire.

There, Clinton beat Obama by a full 15 percentage points among those with family incomes of $50,000 or less, according to exit polls. Obama beat Clinton among those who make $50,000 or more. Clinton won easily among less-educated voters, and among union members. In short, she ran strongly among traditional Democratic groups that have been a bulwark of the party since the New Deal. Obama's New Hampshire vote tracked closely with the slice of votes won by other Democratic candidates who ran insurgencies against the establishment -- Howard Dean, Bill Bradley and Gary Hart are the most obvious examples.

FULL story at link.

[David Zephyr]

1. There is also a racial divide. Especially in the South.

I wish that Democrats were enlighted as we pretend on race, but the sad fact is that it is not so. The old Dixiecrat bigotry has morphed with the times with a more sophisticated face. While most is to be found in the South, it can be found all over the U.S.

"Why I haven't a racist bone in my body," is one of the first clues that a deeply seated racist is about to open their mouth, and utter some idiotic statement about why they are not supporting a candidate of color for mayor, congress or for the Oval Office.

I always enjoy watching bigots express why the oppose a black candidate because almost inevitably they will eventually slip up and give themselves away.

Anyone who suggests that race is not an issue within our Party is either ignorant or hiding their own sentiments.

Race is an issue. Not discussing it, keeping it taboo as a subject can also be a way to keep it hidden.

Having read many posts here by whites Democrats that some will "never" vote for Obama followed by their "rationale" which is either non-existent, inconsistent or self-contradicting can only leave me to conclude that there's a little issue of race still bubbling somewhere. "Never"?

And that's very sad.

[redqueen]

2. They didn't say it didn't exist... they said the class division was "The greater danger". (nt)

[David Zephyr]

3. I read the article. It diminishes race as a divider.

I am a socialist, which means I am also a Marxist. I understand class. It is the universal divider and has been historically as Karl stated so well in the opening of the Communist Manifesto. Still, while Karl was making that point and about the eternal "struggle" about class, Frederick Douglass had made the point about that "stuggle" in his "Narrative of a Slave" tens years before Mr. Marx ever sat down in the British Libary and lifted his pen.

Race and class are inseparable still today. I don't see either a "greater danger" yet.

The continent of Africa is experiencing a holocaust because of class warfare, that is true. But the continet of Africa is experiencing a holocaust primarily because of systemic and historical racism.

[redqueen]

4. OK... IMO race and class are separate.

Intertwined, yet still separate and distinct. And I don't believe we can begin to address the racial issues (including education, which is of course paramount) until we've conqured the class divide. Just MHO.

[David Zephyr]

5. I know we agree because I've read so many of your posts.

I just felt that the article glosses over race in America and in our political systems today. The author could have made the point without diminishing racism.