2016 Postmortem

Last edited Wed Mar 9, 2016, 03:14 PM - Edit history (2)

basically been running a national campaign since the 90s. As soon as she left the WH as FLOTUS, Clinton had her sights set on a path to the presidency. African Americans make up a significant and reliable voting bloc for the Democratic party; the Clintons are savvy politicians and know that well. They have been actively campaigning for the AA vote for decades. Their detractors see it as pandering, the people she is speaking to see it as relationship building. And it is easy to understand why: it's been going on for years and years. I don't believe that there is a single thing the Clintons do publicly that isn't politically motivated, but when you have someone meeting with leaders and visiting churches in your community for decades, of course that's going to foster at least some degree of trust. After the Civil Rights movement, Sanders quietly went to work in Vermont, consistently supporting legislation that would benefit African Americans and opposing legislation that would screw them over, but I don't believe he really had the intention of running a national campaign, so he didn't really actively campaign in the African American community. I see this as the Clintons being pure politicians, but I can understand how African Americans would be drawn to someone who, though her motives may be questionable, does at least feign real concern by making a presence in AA communities and meeting with prominent AA leaders. I think Michigan showed that AAs aren't a single monolithic group though, and younger African Americans are probably a bit more cynical, like younger people in general.