The WaPo’s Eugene Robinson makes this argument about Hillary’s assertion that she can attract white, middle class voters that Barack Obama can’t:
Lower-income white Democrats may well defect to John McCain in the fall if Obama is the nominee, Clinton is arguing, whereas African Americans — who have been choosing Obama by 9 to 1 — are going to vote for the Democratic nominee no matter what. Thus, she claims, she can better knit the party back together.
Let’s examine those premises. These are white Democrats we’re talking about, voters who generally share the party’s philosophy. So why would these Democrats refuse to vote for a nominee running on Democratic principles against a self-described conservative Republican? The answer, which Clinton implies but doesn’t quite come out and say, is that Obama is black — and that white people who are not wealthy are irredeemably racist.
To be fair to Clinton, and this is coming from a guy who deep down doesn’t want to be fair to Hillary Clinton, her statements about Obama’s electoral weakness among white, middle and working class voters is, by and large true. It’s why he lost Ohio, Pennsylvania, and, narrowly, Indiana. And it’s why he would probably lose Michigan if a real primary were held there.
And it’s not necessarily rooted in racism.
There are reall issues there. Ranging from Obama’s own elitism, most famously demonstrated by his “bitter” remark, along with the Jeremiah Wright story, and his seeming inability to relate to middle-class problems:
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — After addressing a question over his decision years ago to stop wearing an American flag pin on his suit lapel, Sen. Barack Obama revisited the topic of arugula during a campaign stop here Thursday.
His first mention of the leafy green came during the summer as part of his first high-profile visit to an Iowa farm. Then, he posed the following question:
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” he asked. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”
That comment came despite the fact that Iowa does not have any Whole Foods stores, nor do most of its farmers typically grow any arugula.
These are things the campaign is going to have to deal with, and saying that everyone who opposes Barack Obama is racist isn’t going to accomplish anything.
