Posted by
Scott Ott on Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:52:43 AM
by Scott Ott
As Hillary Clinton slunk out of South Carolina last night, under cover of darkness, having parlayed the world's greatest political brand name into a 2-to-1 primary
pounding by a relative neophyte, the
exit polling reveals a possible way forward for the former First Lady.
Sen. Barack Obama defeated Sen. Clinton in every age group and every income cohort, among college grads and non-college grads, among males and females, self-identified liberals and conservatives, those who focus on issues and those for whom personality is paramount, the Iraq cut-and-runners and they who wish we would stay indefinitely.
Sen. Clinton can claim only one clear victory niche. Among those who think the country is "not ready" for a black president, she won handily (48-23).
In other words, Sen. Clinton runs strongly among those who judge a person by the color of his skin rather than by the content of his character, or who believe that America is still too racist to elect a black candidate, though they might personally harbor no such prejudice.
Although she got more support among whites than Sen. Obama did, she didn't win the white vote -- John Edwards did (at 40 percent). She only won the "America's not ready for a black president" vote. Call it Hillary Clinton's Confederate coalition.
Columnist
Dick Morris, the disgraced former adviser to the disgraced former president, has already written that the Clintons will play this loss for all the "white backlash" they can get. However reprehensible, Mr. Morris thinks it's a winning strategy.
Of course, no one is talking about a "male backlash strategy" for Sen. Obama, but then he beat Mrs. Clinton soundly even among those who said the country is "ready" for a female president (50-33). In order for a backlash strategy to work, you have to get whupped, and only Sen. Clinton succeeded in doing that.
The big unanswered question of the day is "Where have all the white Democrats gone?"
In a state where 29.5 percent of the population is black, the racial minority comprises 50 percent of registered Democrats, and they turned out at the polls in that proportion. It's sad to see the party of equality and Civil Rights unable to get ebony and ivory to live together in perfect harmony.
There's
ample evidence that the mainstream media has already bought the Clinton campaign spin that South Carolina served only to establish Sen. Obama as "the black candidate," an attempt to marginalize him as the Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton of our day.
The Clinton presidential duo plays this tune at their own peril. (If she had won South Carolina, would her partisans have said "Hillary triumphed despite the high black turnout"?) Methinks Mr. Morris and the mainstream media misjudge most Americans, even most Democrats.
Remember, Sen. Obama won the Iowa caucuses, where blacks represent a mere four percent of the population. He lost New Hampshire, another land of Wonder Bread and Mayonnaise, by only two points. He actually won more delegates in Nevada, though the media played up Sen. Clinton's victory in the meaningless statewide popular vote. Sen. Obama's race for the White House is not racial.
The Obama campaign, unlike those of the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton, has not run on traditional tracks of Civil Rights and social justice. The problem for Sen. Clinton is that, on ideology and policy questions, most voters cannot distinguish between her and Sen. Obama.
So, Democrats, of all races, now ask themselves, whom would I rather see striding to the podium to stand behind the presidential seal? Whose voice would I rather listen to for the next eight years? Which candidate makes me proud to be a Democrat, nay, even proud to be an American?
Team Clinton should recall that they, and their white Democrat ancestors have been pandering to blacks for 40 years by telling them they deserve not only a place at the table, but a fair shot at the big chair in the Oval Office.
The time has come. Democrats are ready. Only Sen. Clinton and her Confederate coalition stands in the way of this significant fulfillment of Martin Luther King's dream.
Scott Ott is editor in chief of ScrappleFace.com, the family-friendly daily news satire site, contributing author of the forthcoming book "The New Media Frontier" (Sept. 2008, by Crossway), and a dynamic public speaker available through Premiere Speakers Bureau.