The race comments are part of a strategy

If you open your eyes just a little bit you can see it for what it is.

All of her comments - both positive and negative - are part of 1 goal: turn Obama into the black candidate rather than the candidate who happens to be black. There is a difference. Will Smith isn't seen as a black actor, but an actor who happens to be black. People look past his skin color and consistently rank him as one of their top actors (I saw an article recently that if there was a "Actor Draft," Will Smith would be 1st overall because everything he touches turns to gold). Samuel L. Jackson, while still typically loved, is more of a black actor, and has become a caricature.

And that's how it is with Obama. For this entire campaign, voters have overlooked his race and rallied behind him. Obama won the 98% white state of Iowa overwhelmingly. Don't think the Clinton campaign was oblivious to that fact. If a black candidate can reach across the racial divide, any white candidate opposing him or her is all but through.

What the Clinton campaign is doing is bringing up race in some form as much as possible. Whether it is a lockstep strategy where Hillary told them what to do or the subconscious of her advisors/biggest supporters coming out, they are attempting to force Obama to be identified first by his heritage. Mentions of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement seem innocent enough, but it is part of the gradual process to force "he's black" into voter's minds. All the other mentions (shuck and jive, hip black friend, etc) further the same goal.

Once race becomes the big issue in the election - whether it is Obama going on the defensive ("Why does my race matter?") or the media picking up on her Hillary's campaign's almost-daily comments - Obama is finished.

It's a tough situation for Obama. The best he can hope is that the majority of America is truly fed up with race debates and says, "Ok, Hillary, enough." But all this race discussion also increase the likelihood of the Bradley Effect.

Is it truly racist? Not at all. I highly doubt Bill and Hillary have a racist bone in them.

Is it calculated or politically motivated? Absolutely.

It makes sense. We don't have to like it, but most Hillary detractors agree that she's the type who will stoop to any level to win, and this is just one of those levels.

Hillary supporters I don't expect you to agree with me, but is there anything a non-Hillary supporter says that you guys do agree with?

I don't like is, Obama is not allowed to use race but Hillary is allowed to use gender. I don't think Obama should use race and Hillary shouldn't use gender.

It's hypocritical. But as soon as you stop viewing the word in terms of the way it should be and see it for how it is, you'll see this happens every day.

b/c the issues are real. but i hope that we can move past them now. i think that both racism and sexism have reared their ugly heads recently, and at least it's now while we have time to talk about the issues. It's bound to surface. i think it's interesting that one female and one black person are running at the same time. very interesting. that being said, Hillary should be ready to slap people upside the head if stupid s--t comes out of their mouth. just my 2 cents.

lies with Obama, in suggesting that every criticisms is racial, thereby making people walk on egg shells.

"fairy tale?" That was in no way racist. That was twisted and distorted to be called racist by the Obama campaign.

There's a big difference. The Obama campaign had nothing to do with it.

Nor did they have anything to do with the media picking up the "shuck n' jive" and "imaginary hip black friend" comments, either.

Have you not taken place in the sexism labeling thats gone around here? Have you not seen your candidate use the same strategy to win NH?

Seriously, you want to talk about heads exploding? Mine is about to.

has consistantly refused to make this a "race" issue.

What you or I or any other stupid shmuck does, isn't "the Obama Campaign"-

Hillary herself has brought up the fact that she is a woman-And tried to use it to advance her position.

It is getting harder and harder for me to keep a positive mind-set about being able to support her if she is the nominee.

I want to be able to- but a person's true character is often revealed when they are being pushed to the brink. And so far, the response of Sen. Obama is one of maturity and wisdom. This post is yet another example of what we we will be dealing with from Hillary in office-

I want to see it differently- but the more that happens the worse it appears.

peace~

I am so over this stupid shit.

In another day or two, it will be not that he is black, but that discussion of racism is so difficult that we just can't have a black candidate. It's not that he is black, but the kind of conversation and charge/counter-charge that spins out of control that just makes it impossible for people to support him. The line will be, apparently America still has a lot to deal with about race and unfortunately Obama was just ahead of his time. That's the end result I think they're going for, because then they won't be racist - they'll just be sympathetic and insightful commentators on the American Experience.

You know, I actually rearranged my schedule this semester because I found out there is a new Poli Sci class (Race & Elections) being taught. Excited to see how that goes. Published author on the topic.

Interesting of you, though.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

It is a theory. I can't read anyone in the Clinton campaign's mind.

However, I see it as my duty as an American (not an Obama supporter) to denounce these tactics and statements. What we do and feel as supporters should not be presumed to represent the campaign's positions.

And I hope that everybody here realizes that the Obama campaign has very little control over what the Clinton campaign says and what the media chooses to report. Injecting race into this election is to the benefit of both.

after that most people judge others by their character. Nationally Obama's up to about 18 seconds now,
in about 2 seconds nothing Hillary does to ignite the race issue will have an effect.
People will have come to know Obama's character. Judging from Iowa they will like what they see.

You don't get to choose out of history.

That said, your analysis is otherwise interesting.

They are both blacks.

But it comes down to perception.

Perception is reality.

has an aura of cool around him that derives in part from traditional perceptions of black "cool." To say that he's an actor who happens to be black - as if his blackness isn't part and parcel of his popularity and the way he's perceived - is a bit ridiculous, as are most assertions about some "post-racial" America.

More specifically, Will Smith has always played the role of "translating" black culture for mainstream (which is to say, white) audiences. His late 90's records were straight up rip-offs of the rougher Wu Tang and Biggie stuff then popular in terms of beats and rhyme structures, but tuned to lighter, that is, politically safe, themes (Miami, Gettin' Jiggy with It being two obvious examples). But blackness is an essential criterion for any such translator.

Indeed, Rush Limbaugh caught flack for the "magic Negro" bit, but the LA Times piece he was citing was actually quite accurate in its depiction of the common trope (yes, Bagger Vance and Obama), a trope black literary and cultural critics have examined for years. He doesn't "happen to be black." Blackness is an essential feature of the perception.

Will Smith developed his aura from his blackness, but after awhile his blackness fell to the background while and his aura carried him. His roles in I Am Legend, Independence Day, and Men In Black were very color blind roles. Compared to his early work with Fresh Prince and Bad Boys, which did depend on his race. Enemy of the State, especially, cemented his role as an actor who is black rather than a black actor because of the "every man" role he played. While his aura and his blackness may have been intertwined at firce, they separated and now his skin color is irrelevant.

Morgan Freeman is another such actor. Just look at him in Unforgiven. A very color blind role.

Obama seemingly skipped the aura/blackness being intertwined stage. He went from being a black person to a person who is black faster than any politician or celebrity in recent memory, if not ever. Hillary wants to bring it back to that stage. She wants people to step back and say, "slow down." She wants America to see him as the guy who skipped the courtship and went right in for the kiss. In that respect his heritage and his experience are related. She is using the same strategy with his experience that she is using with his race, except less direct for obvious reasons.

All of those roles rely on both the physical black body and the constant code switching between black and white cultural and linguistic forms.

Color blind is just another word for culture blind.

IF it is a strategy, and IF Jackson's mention of Hillary's tears/Katrina was a strategy -- both racially motivated, then I don't want EITHER OF THESE CANDIDATES to be my president. What does this say about them as PEOPLE? That they're both willing to use race as a political tool?

He has so far. Race is an issue but it shouldn't be used to divide us. Obama says he wants to unite us. I take him at his word.

But the context that he referenced Dr. King and the context Hillary did were entirely different.

It may have been the spark that ignited all of this, however.

after 2 speeches people went nuts for him. he then put himself in the same sentences as JFK and MLK, which was just crazy imo and she called him on it. but then her foot found it's way in her mouth. she says really ackward things sometimes. i think she has to take time to be more responsible. and she DEFINITELY should explain her comments NOT just to get out of trouble, but to eliminate any damage she could actually be doing. People shouldn't be left feeling resentful. And i feel if she doesn't address this, then she probably shouldn't be president. I dunno.

now excuse me while I bow my head and mourn for the republic.

:thumbsup:

I was just going to suggest something similar. It's very Rovian and it's a pattern that lately seems to be getting amped up. Make oblique racial references, hope to get polarizing figures like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton in on it, and they've concocted a strategy to create a racial divide with Hillary claiming to be victimized by unfounded racial attacks. It's really poisoning the water.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/248558

And as I read elsewhere...

"
The Clinton stategy with the help of CNN, and Karl Rove who described Barack as someone who, in effect, lies and is lazy, language designed to align Barack with stereotypical racist ideas, are attempting to racialize Barack, which inspires rejection, while feminizing Hillary, which inspires protection . . ."

Clinton becomes the "woman" candidate, the more powerful she grows. Female solidarity is huge and they will vote for her in powerful numbers.

I'm not entirely convinced.

they know they get an advantage by creative a racial divide by the simple population demographics, so even if Obama's team wanted to join them in this political sleaze by playing a similar gender gaming of language, it would work against them, since the Democratic primary voter is tilted in favor of females.