Clinton Race Baiting (a time line, for those still confused)

[Essene]

As the NY Daily News put it yesterday... IN AN EDITORIAL... (her hometown's liberal populist paper)

Bill Clinton, meanwhile, has wrongly accused Obama both of injecting race into the debate and of running a negative campaign against his wife.

And then yesterday Bill Clinton cynically claimed that he and Sen. Clinton are merely defending themselves against a rival who had gone negative and had played the race card. But the truth, as voters have plainly seen, is that Obama has run a unifying campaign free of invective. And the Clintons should know better.

Amen.

Some vocal folks around here are still lying about the facts... (even though a recent poll here indicated the vast majority of DU realize that the Clintons started the racialization of the campaign, not Obama). As usual, they will flame me for reviewing them.

Let's look at some of the specific smearing the Clinton camp did out of Iowa, which included some very nasty race baiting. The New Hampshire Primary was on the 8th, I believe. The "truce" was on the 14th. This doesn't even address the "Muslim, drug using radical" stuff or how they play the Gender card while race baiting.

• "An untested man who offers false hope." "We don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered." 1/4
  
  
• Govern in prose (not poetry) 1/6
  
  
• MLK comment 1/7
  
  
• Assassination! 1/7
  
  
• All qaeda will strike! 1/7
  
  
• Fairy tale rant (the famous bill video) 1/8
  
  
• Shucks n Jives 1/10
  
  
• Hip black male who can't provide 1/10
  
  
• Hispanics wont vote for him 1/12
  
  
• Obama is an Uncle Tom who was doing drugs when the Clintons were fighting for blacks 1/13
  
  
• "99 problems and a Bitch aint one of them" 1/14
  
  
• Black supporters just because Obama is black 1/15
  
  
• etc
  

Obama's first comments about this all? Jan 13th.

And this is what he said:

"She made an unfortunate remark about Martin Luther King and Lyndon Johnson,” he said. “I haven't remarked on it. And she offended some folks who thought she diminished the role about King and the civil rights movement. The notion that this is our doing is ludicrous.”

According to Clinton Mythology, that was Obama playing the race card.

Folks pretended this was when Obama "started it." The media didn't immediately call out the truth, but played into it by turning the entire election into a big racialized drama. At the debate on the 15th, Obama even took responsibility for his staff MERELY MAKING A LIST OF THE CLINTON SMEARS, as if that was somehow inappropriate. He geniunely said he'd put the race stuff behind (because he means it and also because his campaign cannot afford it). Even after a truce was declared on the 14th, the Clintons kept at it. The very day of the debate, Bill was out there stirring it up again... pushing race (and gender) into the discussion... smearing Obama... staying nasty.



While the Clintons' political tactics may very well be effective to alienate black voters and to exploit fears... it's doing irreparable damage to the party and the spirit of the 2008 elections. Obama may win SC now that she can't hold onto more than a fraction of the black vote (even in NY), but she's successfully cast the election into race terms and his victory will be presented to americans as a "black thing." This will INCREASE the racial tensions and fears going into Feb 5th.

You will not see many black leaders stand up and say just how wrong this is. Heaven knows they will be attacked in the media as "playing the race card" just for speaking the truth about this tragedy. Not many blacks could have imagined the CLINTONS doing this, and many white liberals refuse to admit the truth. America is depressing the shi*t out of anybody paying close attention and who cares about race politics in america in 2008. Don't be surprised when minorities just don't turn out to vote Democrat... when Hillary needs them. Especially in New York.

* I am not an Obama supporter, although I'd support people voting for him or Edwards over Hillary
* I do find it sad and disgraceful that so many around here continue to join in the Obama bashing based on these lies. Bash him on issues or for not having a clear vision... but not based on lies and race baiting.

---------------------------- sources

### Obama is just poetry. (1/6)
She's been stumping with comments about how he's just talking poetry and she's ready to "govern with prose." Cute. " a doer, not a talker." http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=521485 & http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080107/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_rdp

### False hope. (1/4)

"An untested man who offers false hope." "We don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered." Clinton herself said this. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/Story?id=4088317&page=1 & http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_01/012851.php

### Al qaeda will strike!! (1/7)

"Look what happened in Great Britain," she said. "Tony Blair leaves, Gordon Brown comes in, the very next day, there are terrorist attacks." Sorry, but that's a disgraceful comment, directly suggesting terrorists will strike with the election of Obama. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jB8n288YSUL-mMk3_2pTlq43xjoA

### He's no MLK. And dreams need a President not speeches. (jan 7)

She dissed MLK, suggesting REAL change only happened because of President Johnson (not MLK's dream or the civil rights movement). She then implied that he doesn't remotely compare to MLK or Kennedy. "You know, today Senator Obama used President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to criticize me. He basically compared himself to our greatest heroes because they gave great speeches." Sad. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/civilrights/

Let's look at the statements in more detail.

“Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act.” “It took a president to get it done.” (Read: it took a white president)

“You know, today Senator Obama used President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to criticize me. He basically compared himself to our greatest heroes because they gave great speeches. President Kennedy was in Congress for 14 years. He was a war hero. He was a man of great accomplishments and readiness to be president. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a movement. He was gassed. He was beaten. He was jailed. And he gave a speech that was one of the most beautifully, profoundly important speeches ever written in America, the “I have a dream” speech. And then he worked with President Johnson to get the civil rights laws passed, because the dream couldn’t be realized until finally it was legally permissible for people of all colors and backgrounds and races and ethnicities to be accepted as citizens."

Somebody remind Hillary that she supported Barry Goldwater back then... o.0

### He's likely to get assassinated. (jan 7)

Somebody who introduced Hillary Clinton emphasized the comparison with JFK and how he got killed. “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated." The Clinton admin distanced themselves from his comments, calling them inappropriate, but the damage was done. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/civilrights/

### The hip black male who can't provide (1/10)

In the words of a Clinton adviser: "If you want Obama to be your imaginary hip black friend and you're young and you have no social needs, then he's cool." http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2238148,00.html

### Obama just "shucks and jives" (1/10)

Andrew Cuomo, NY Attorney General, and Clinton fan... came out swingin at Obama after NH primary. “You can’t shuck and jive at a press conference,” he added. “All those moves you can make with the press don’t work when you’re in someone’s living room.” http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0108/Dept_of_word_choice.html

She's been stumping with comments about how he's just talking poetry and she's ready to "govern with prose." Cute. " a doer, not a talker." http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=521485 & http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080107/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_rdp

### Drug record makes him unelectable.

Top Clinton advisor steps down after making various arguments about how Obama can't get elected due to his drug use. In the context of all the other stuff, this most certainly has racial overtones and will be taken that way by many minorities. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004077664_obama17.html


### "99 problems and a bitch aint one of them." (1/14)

The New York Post said: "As Obama and his wife, Michelle, strolled triumphantly into his victory party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, Jay-Z's "99 Problems" was blaring. In it, Jay raps, 'I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one.'" Almost the entire article revolves around Clinton spokesperson commenting on the situation. Considering it was blatantly false and easily "checked" with a youtube search, it's fairly naive to believe the Clinton campaign accidentally bought into this lie and would comment on it without intent to give the story life. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01142008/gossip/pagesix/hillary__barack_rap__rock_142152.htm & http://youtube.com/watch?v=rAXAemXaivY

## Obama is an Uncle Tom who was doing drugs when the Clintons were fighting for blacks

BET founder Bob Johnson jumped up on stage with Hillary like a few other spineless black leaders, to attack Obama. The media focused on his comment about Obama's drug use, and Johnson later apologized. However, few cared to notice how Johnson compared Obama to Sidney Poitier's character in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” This is the modern equivalent of calling somebody an Uncle Tom. While Obama accepted the apology, do not believe it's acceptable to careful & critical observers. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/bet-chief-raps-obama-in-sc/

### Blacks support Obama just because he's black.

The day after a "truce" was declared between Clinton and Obama, Bill Clinton went on a vicious but subtle attack with more desperate race baiting. He said: "Hillary has an enormous amount of African American support and Barack Obama has a lot of white people for him," he said in Sparks. There's still some African Americans who support Barack, even though they like Hillary, because they think he is the first African American to have a chance to be president," Clinton said. "And there's a lot of women who are voting for Hillary, even though they like Sen. Obama, because they think it would be better if a woman broke the glass ceiling." Re-read that. He says blacks all like Hillary, but some 'still' like Obama (merely} because he's black. A smart man like Bill doesn't use these words without full grasp. Words like "chance" and "still" are no accidents. Notice he then plays the gender card. This was AFTER the truce. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-15-bill-clinton-nevada_N.htm

Oh... and in the same speech, Clinton called Obama the "establishment candidate." Stand-up comedy.

[MyNameGoesHere]

1. Now why would quotes

from other people that have half truths and innuendo in them confuse anyone? Want to bet i can prove pigs fly? I could gather 100 quotes and statements and viola pigs can fly.

[Essene]

5. Innuendo and provocative stuff as bait. That's the whole point.

The statements out of the Hillary camp were provocative bait...

These people know exactly what it means to say what they did from the 7th through the 13th. It was all an attempt to get people to react over questions of race. They then had black leaders ready to stand up with Clinton in indignation, pretending Obama had "played the race card" inappropriately.

If you don't want to see that obvious truth... so be it.

However, in spite of Charlie Rangel and a few others trying to play this game with the Clintons, blacks have almost systematically turned their backs on the Clintons. This was a DEEP DEEP DEEP bond which i dont think anybody imagined breaking so dramatically. And even now.. the Clintons have made no apologies and continue pretending Obama "started it."

The Clintons think they can take blacks for granted.

All democrats need to reflect deeply on this and realize what this really says about the Clintons. It's not pretty...


(and many folks of all colors will not forget)

[shenmue]

15. Many folks of all colors resent *your* obnoxious baiting.

She's not a racist, quit with this snotty, Fox News-style bullshit.

[Essene]

17. When you pretend im calling her racist, you just show how insincere you are... but keep flaming...

[formernaderite]

40. i dont' believe they're racists either...just opportunists

they knew exactly what they were doing, subtle jabs that would wind everyone up. It doesn't make them any more just or less hurtful. The end justifies the means in clinton world..that's blatantly obvious.

[Justyce]

2. I'm embarrassed of them BOTH right now. It's got to stop.

Winning the primary isn't worth losing the GE due to the damage they're inflicting on each other.

[Essene]

9. Obama played into it too much at the debate,but otherwise he's right to challenge Bill on this

And to his credit, there are now major News editorials finally having the guts to tell the truth... and call the Clintons out on it.

Obama could have just stayed on the high road, but i think he had to prepare some type of response in an eventual SC win.

When he wins SC and the Hillary camp (including many in the media) all insist this is about "blacks," Obama needs to have a bigger story going which focuses on something like Bill Clinton's insanity. lol


Again, i'm not a huge Obama fanboy. I like him. If he was elected, i'd be ok with that.

I think he has serious flaws, lacks presidential experience and doesnt have the vision (yet) america needs from somebody like him.

[ShortnFiery]

3. Thanks. Excelent research! K & R. eom.

[joeybee12]

4. So if you say someone isn't qualified...that's racist?

I've seen some patehtic bizarre reasoning on behalf of the Empty Suit's candidac, but this one deserves a duzzy for sheer stupidity.

[jefferson_dem]

7. Where is that argument made - that to say someone is not qualified is racist?

n/t

[joeybee12]

20. Take a look at the timeline...it's right at the top there...

If this is the racist timeline, then it starts with that, acoording to the OP. Pathetic.

[jefferson_dem]

22. I dont see it. The only mention of "qualified" on this thread was your post.

n/t

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Essene]

10. Strawman arguments ara awesome. Really, you're so cool.

I personally do NOT think Obama is qualified for President.

That has nothing to do with what i'm saying, tough guy.

[Ravy]

6. That is the problem. Every criticism is cast as race baiting.

False Hope? Poetry? Al-Qaeda? Those were baiting comments about his race?

Whoever sees those as race baiting comments, and then casts that charge against someone else creates a polarizing environment where statements such as "it took a president to help make MLK's dream a reality" as taking on a racial overtone.

This is bunk.

I am an Edwards supporter, but I really get upset when people throw around that "race bait" term for their own political gain.

[Essene]

18. The false hope, poetry and "substance" attacks by themselves were 100% legitimate IMO

But when systematically tied into the racial baiting, they took on racialized nuances as they were repeated in that week or two. You seem to buy into this silly idea that Obama could even "gain" from being cast as the black candidate. Those who seem to think he is playing the race card don't seem to realize... what blacks realize: they are the ones who always get F*CKED when issues become racialized.

He would NEVER start this.

I have NO problem even with harsh attacks when they are legitimate concerns or focused on the issues.

As ive said, i do not think Obama is qualified to be President and i think those BY THEMSELVES were legitimate hits. However, they were combined with nasty race baiting which certainly cast everything being said into a new, nasty light.

And no... im sorry... but this isnt about "every criticism is race baiting."

That's a non-sense strawman argument.

The truth is that blacks are going to say NOTHING because every criticism THEY have will be cast as "playing the race card."

That's why powerful white liberals such as the Clintons believe they can get away with this nonsense. They take people for granted. Indeed, Edwards would never do this because 1) he cant take black voters for granted, and 2) he cant easily play indignant when folks fire back. I'd also argue that 3) he has more integrity than the Clintons.

[LatinManNH]

8. You forgot this race-baiting comment

from November, except it wasn't coming from the Clinton camp:

"Obama was introduced by comedian and actor Chris Rock, who told the audience they'd regret and be embarassed if they voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

"You'd say, 'I had that white lady! What was I thinking?" Rock said.

Appealing to the mostly black audience, Obama said he's running for president because, "I'm tired of reading about Jena, I'm tired of reading about nooses, tired of reading about Justice Department that doesn't understand justice."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3932795&page=1

[Essene]

12. Yes, cuz jokes by a comedian at the Apollo... in Harlem... or being upset about "Jena"...

... are akin to elected officials making comments about assassination, his muslim heritage, his drug use, shuck and jiving, his hip black male inabilitity to provide and etc.

Obviously if a politician is angry about Jena or the lack of civil rights justice in america, he's "playing the race card." HIllary would NEVER talk about issues blacks care about in a black audience!!! That would be RACIST!

Now, i respect how some might take stuff like Chris Rock and Oprah to be him "playing the race card" and think that if there was nothing else but that stuff, there could be legitimate concern.

However... since his ENTIRE campaign has been about him NOT running as a "black candidate" i find it disgraceful and insincere to suggest him being frustrated with events like "jena" as playing the race card.

[Justyce]

11. Quite a few of these are from sources other than the Clintons...

It's kind of reaching to blame them for what others have said IMO.

[Essene]

14. It's all from the clinton camp.

Cuomo is most certainly a part of the Clinton camp, and the "99 problems" story in the NY Post was like 80% clinton spokesman commentary. If you know how this stuff works, you know that's not a coincidence.

[shenmue]

13. The Daily News is not a liberal paper. Nor is it populist.

It is demagogic and it leans decidedly to the right. Anyone actually from New York knows that.

Your very post is baiting in itself.

Is that all the Obama camp has to do? Loaded questions and false accusations?

It really doesn't bode well for your claim to offer hope. It certainly doesn't make me want to vote for your candidate.

[Essene]

16. Now THAT is funny. Move along...

I said i am not an Obama supporter. I don't think he's qualified for Presidency.

But im sure you will do NOTHING but attack me because you really cant face the facts of deal with them with civility... obviously.

And saying the NY Daily News isnt liberal or populist is comedy gold. I guess the NY Post isn't populist and is a lefty rag.

[Tarc]

19. Nice hatchet job

but innuendo attributed to others does not indict Clinton herself. A for effort, D- for impact. (It'll make the Obamaniacs tongues waggle a bit, so that saves it from an F).

[Essene]

26. Pretend it's something besides facts and legitimate concern. Im not an obama boy, either.

Folks like you are the problem, not me.

[Bitwit1234]

21. Real true blue Americans REMEMBER the guy who started

the thing to try to get an advantage. Too bad the corporate republican MSM doesn't have the guts to come right out and question him. But then they would be called "that name" and they don't want to, so again the other suit gets a leg up in the name calling and it is all laid at the Clintons.

[Blarch]

23. Clinton calling Obama

the "establishment candidate" is fucking absurd

How fucking stupid is that lady ? ..really. What a hack she is.

[Essene]

34. Hey, if Bill Clinton calls Obama the "establishment candidate" then obviously he is... right? =)

Cuz heaven forbid we criticize Bill Clinton.

[Tom Rinaldo]

24. You call comments by Clinton Supporters "Clinton race baiting" but...

...to balence the scales you only note Barack Obama's individual comments - none of the many racial content comments that those in his camp have made. And when you actually list the supposedly offending race baiting comments you include Hillary's comment about (in your words,)
"An untested man who offers false hope." "We don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered." 1/4 and "Govern in prose (not poetry)" 1/6. If you want to reduce those comments to race baiting the code used is complex enough for the C.I.A. to work with.

If you call Hillary noting that LBJ was a highly skilled leader at forging the majority needed to enact then controversial civil rights legislation which played a critically important role in realizing Martin Luther King Jrs dream "race baiting", so be it. I will just point out that King is a national icon with an official day of rememberence accorded him. Any political Fallout from Hillary's comment that included King was predictably going to break in Obama's favor - as it did. If Hillary was playing a race card there she played it FOR Obama's team. That is the "unfortunate" (for her) aspect of how those comments were twisted (though they were not twisted by Barack Obama personally).

The way you manipulated your OP allows you to call anything that anyone who supported Clinton said (including people who lost their positions because of it) "Clinton race baiting", but conveniently lets you ignore anything said by anyone associated with Obama's camp which would qualify as the same. It lets you leave out a controversy like this:

"Civil Rights Icon Rev. Joseph Lowery Says Blacks Who Vote Against Obama Have Slave Mentality"
http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com/2008/01/civil-rights-icon-rev-joseph-lowery.html Do you think maybe that could qualify as using race to effect the results of an election? There are many other examples of this relative to South Carolina in particular.

It leaves Obama completely off the hook when a Union that supported Obama broadcast a radio ad on a Spanish language community radio station that said among other things (in Spanish) Hillary Clinton does not respect our people. She does not respect our community.

I can link to a full discussion of that one if you want.

Ultimately your OP is another completely one sided attempt to keep a race card in play against Hillary in this primary contest. It was not an attempt to have a full and fair discussion of a concern that transcends which if any candidate we support.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

25. The MLK comment backfired but it was deliberate racebaiting

It was a talking point carefully crafted for small, Caucasian audiences. It was meant to reassure them that it's OK to vote for the white woman over the Black man, since everyone knows it takes powerful white people to get things done. She intended to use it over and over again.

[jackson_dem]

28. No, her point was in response to Obama citing MLK's speeches

Obamites act as if she made the comment out of the blue and ignore the tit for tat that lead to it.

[Essene]

31. Do you understand what race baiting is???? It doesn't seem so.

The Clinton camp blatantly tossed out a lot of subtle, provocative comments as BAIT.

The idea is you stir up predictable outrage or indignation from the black community and media.

The Clintons felt they could risk this because:

1. Obama is the one who gets hurt if he's cast as a "black" president
2. The Clintons have a long history of black support and had black leaders READY to attack Obama as "playing the race card" if he said 1 single word in response to the bait.

Obama fell for the trap, although what he said was so absurdly mild that it's comedy when the insincere partisans pretend he started it... or even played the race card. Certainly, there was legitimate anger at the Clinton camp... but not because they were being RACIST, but because they were exploiting racism, fear and division.

Even having their head analysts get on TV to talk about how latinos wont vote for a black person... is just totally uncalled for in the context of a democratic primary in 2008. It's just pandering to racial tensions and fears.

Those of you... who refuse to see this or to ADMIT what you see... are part of the underlying problem.

Politicians... even Clintons... shouldn't be able to get away with this in the Democratic primary for PRESIDENT.

[jackson_dem]

37. Yes, and I have criticized both Hillary and Obama for doing it

The MLK instance wasn't one of them, though, in my estimation.

[Essene]

42. Seems that most of DU... most blacks... and many in the press... disagree...

Feel free to write the NY Daily News and tell them how wrong they are.

It would be naive to think Obama would intentionally try to race bait when it would be his instant downfall.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

38. I don't care what it was a 'response' to, I know what she meant and who it was directed to. nt

[Essene]

29. The MLK comment. The shuck n jive. Hip black male. Assassination. Hispanic fear mongering. Etc.

All happened BEFORE obama said a word...

[Essene]

27. 1. Im not an Obama supporter 2. I am not defending Obama 3. Your need to deflect the truth is sad.

I AM NOT AN OBAMA SUPPORTER

Spare me the partisan non-sense.

There are MANY who've reacted to this campaign racial poorly... including some on Obama's side too.


But NONE of that removes the truth of what im saying. A truth you refuse to deal with and concede.

[Tom Rinaldo]

35. Where did I say you were an Obama supporter?

I never did. I said your OP was one sided and it was. It was an anti-Clinton side that you took. You did so blatently in all the specific ways that I listed. For that reason I was not impressed with your edited presentation of "facts".

You can search here by my name for numerous comments I have made that "deal with" the varied uses of the "race card" in this contest. I have had long and constructive discussions with DU members who don't all support the same candidate as I do about this subject, and that includes Obama supporters. I pursue those discussions with people who sincerely want to make sense out of how race is factoring into this election, and how that has come to be, as opposed to wanting it dragged out for their political advantage for or against one or more Democratic candidates.

[Essene]

43. So, if somebody criticizes Hillary... you attack them as "biased." Got it... *roll eyes*

[MethuenProgressive]

30. All of the ###s are complete bullshit.

Whoa... didn't I type that the last 42 times the OP spammed DU with this nonsense?
:dejavu:

[Essene]

33. Feel free to address specific sources and points, rather than flaming. Again.

n/t

[MethuenProgressive]

36. Donate, and search the past spamming of this BS by you.

Don't be a cheap spammer, be a donating one.

[Essene]

41. How about you attack the NY Daily News while you are at it...

Since you cant have a civil, sincere dialog and insist im "spamming" just because i present ongoing facts.

BTW... I'll be reporting your attacks if you keep it up.

[AtomicKitten]

39. Amen.

K&R :)