Hillary's Hypocrisy: Clinging to Obama After Her Racist Dog Whistles in 2008

[polly7]

Last edited Sun Feb 21, 2016, 12:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Jan 19, 2016

Geoffrey Dunn

New York City, NY -- In the aftermath of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary [won narrowly by Hillary Clinton] -- a race in which Clinton had a 20-point lead only a few months ago -- the racism and hypocrisy of the Clinton campaign were laid bare for all a nation to scorn.

Desperate and willing to do anything to win, the Clintons resorted to a naked form of racism aimed directly at white working-class voters in the rural portions of the state. Their message: Barack Obama cannot win because he's black.

In the early stages of the campaign, it was Clinton's cadre who kept playing the race card. In New Hampshire, Clinton's co-chair, Billy Shaheen, accused Obama of being a drug dealer; then there was the photograph of Sen. Barack Obama in Somali garb leaked to the press by Clinton's staff.

In the aftermath of the South Carolina primary, former President Bill Clinton compared Obama's victory to those of Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988. His message was clear: Obama was a marginal, black candidate.

Then came the disgraceful remarks of Geraldine Ferraro, who could not, and would not, shut her mouth. "If Obama was a white man," she charged, "he would not be in this position." And she was adamant and unapologetic amid the resulting outcry. "Every time that campaign is upset about something, they call it racist," she proclaimed. "I will not be discriminated against because I'm white."

And go negative they did -- with a subtle yet consistent racism underscoring every turn. The now notorious red-phone-at-3:00-a.m. television ad used by Clinton during the Texas primary, as Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson noted in the New York Times, was reminiscent of D. W. Griffith's racist film Birth of a Nation, which helped revive the Ku Klux Klan.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell, who headed up Clinton's campaign, was publicly saying that white voters in the Keystone State would not vote for Obama because he was black. Rendell's remarks were racist from the get-go, but no one in the white media called him on it. Indeed, the media began playing the game.

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/hillarys-hypocrisy-clinging-to-obama-after-her-racist-dog-whistles-in-2008_b_9011244.html

This was a great thread on it here:

berni_mccoy (18,865 posts)

Clinton used race as a campaign tactic in 2008 - she's doing worse now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251758204

[Duckhunter935]

1. she evolved, lol

She will evolve back if she gets the nomination. The Republicans hate them both with a passion and she will need to separate herself from him.

[polly7]

8. So she says .....

Or does she, did she ever apologize for any of that?

[Thinkingabout]

2. This is not going to convince anyone not to vote for Hillary, perhaps showing where Sanders issues

are superior to Hillary's issues. Whatever happened in the 2008 primary was resolved before the convention and later shown to be over when she was selected as Obama's SOS. Now if you want to stay with Hillary being racist dog whistles then you can say there have been sexist dog whistles against Hillary.

[polly7]

4. Oh, I'm just exposing a little hypocrisy here, that alright with you?? nt.

[Thinkingabout]

6. Still not going to convince Hillary supporters she isn't the most qualified candidate,

superior positions on issues is going to convince voters to change, we have made our selection.

[polly7]

7. I don't care about convincing Hillary supporters about anything, just exposing some

hypocrisy ....... again, that alright with you?

[Duckhunter935]

9. I guess we will see

When she changes her positions and evolves again on many issues.

[Broward]

17. Thanks, I for one appreciate the exposure.

The Clintons will do or say just about anything to win.

[polly7]

25. They sure will!

Haven't heard a peep from them about the millions of brown people they supposedly care so much about, as they claim to now care about people of all colour, sexual orientation, class, etc. Not a single word. Isn't that strange?

[Thinkingabout]

29. The Clintons have been vetted for years, the vetting on Sanders

Is still young. I agree Sanders needs more exposure.

[Robbins]

3. black voters don't care

she won in nevada 76% to 22% with blacks.it's pointless to point this out anymore.they are fine with her and bill's racist acts.

[farleftlib]

5. Whatever it takes

That's the Clinton way. They are the lowest of the low.

[brooklynite]

10. Has President Obama complained?

Obama’s almost-endorsement of Hillary Clinton

President Obama is insistent: He doesn't want to endorse a candidate in this year's Democratic primary contests. At least not quite yet. The only problem with that? The comments he has been willing to make sound sort of like an endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

It makes a certain amount of sense that Obama would gravitate towards a Clinton endorsement. The two have a long working relationship going back to their days in the Senate (Clinton and Obama overlapped from 2005-2009, while Sanders was sworn into the Senate in 2007). And, as Obama put it, from his perspective, "she served in my administration, and she was an outstanding secretary of state.” Clinton clearly makes the connection, too – she's mentioned Obama and his policies every chance she's gotten at the last few debates, all the while casting Sanders as anti-Obama.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/17/obamas-almost-endorsement-of-hillary-clinton/

[polly7]

11. So that makes it alright???

Sick.

[Bohemianwriter]

13. So when will you tretract the lies...

that Bernie is anti-Obama and a racist?

When will you apoliogize for Hillary and her racist remarks?

What has Hillary done in her adult life to earn the votes she once was against?

[Armstead]

15. Politicians are opportunists

Obama understandably wants his legacy to include a third term for Democrats. He has decided that Clinton is the best chance for that. Therefore, he will bury a lot of personal animosity.

I think he was also being opportunistic in selecting her as Sec. of State. There were a lot more objectively qualified candidates out there (including Sen. Kerry) but he wanted to mend the fences of the party, so he chose Clinton for something.

[Bohemianwriter]

12. Black SC voters...

...Needs to be constantly reminded of that fact.

If anyone says she has been working for the African American community specifically since the 90's, then ask exactly what she has done...

[Adrahil]

14. Here's the thing...

I was an Obama supporter in 2008 and I was very angry at Hillary then. If you had told me I would be an enthusiastic supporter of hers in 2016, I would have not believed you.

But.... Obama recognized her skill and talent, and she swallowed her pride and accepted the nomination. And they both performed well. Politics can be nasty. But Obama got over it,mand so can I.

I do not think posts like this are remotely. They are too emotionally charged. Too many Bernie fans were hoping.... No... EXPECTING an upset yesterday, and not getting it, they are feeling very emotionally raw. Especially since I think they know what's coming over the next 2 weeks....

[Armstead]

18. Yes the same people Clinton disparaged in 2008 are now her "firewall"

It'll probably succeed but it's a sad commentary on how lousy our political system has become.

[polly7]

27. I thought THIS was a great post from a while ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251758204

berni_mccoy (18,865 posts)

Clinton used race as a campaign tactic in 2008 - she's doing worse now

NONE of this makes sense to me.

[JTFrog]

19. +1 n/t

[UglyGreed]

16. Dog whistles, lies and distortion

oh wait I forget slander....

[zappaman]

20. Many politicians are hypocritical including Bernie Sanders.

“You don’t change the system from within the Democratic Party.”

“My own feeling is that the Democratic Party is ideologically bankrupt.”

“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why should we work within the Democratic Party if we don’t agree with anything the Democratic Party says?"


Carry on.

[Armstead]

22. There's a difference. You'd prefer he do a slash and burn as a Third Party candidate?

He knows how destructive that would have been, and he chose to try to bring change within the system, without handing the GOP a spoiler victory.

That's a whole lot different than "I think I'll alienate AA voters to attract whites" in one election and "I think I'l run as the champion of AAs" in the next election.

[zappaman]

23. Carry on. n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

21. And again, I find Sanders supporters' feigned outrage downright insulting. When many of us POC

were bringing up the racism from HRC and her campaign back in 2008, there were many on the other side that basically said that we were over exaggerating, too sensitive, or even needed to shut up about claims of racism. All of it was bullshit.

When many of us today lament how this president has been unfairly treated; how he has faced deplorable acts of racism and disrespect, again, many Sanders AND Hillary supporters told us that it wasn't racism, it was his policies that they abhorred. We were told over and over again to "prove racism" and that DUers can't be racist because they're white "liberals" or Democrats. BULLSHIT!

Fast forward today, and suddenly, everyone cares about how blacks were treated in 2008 by Hillary's camp. On the HRC side, her fanatics are suddenly concerned about the racist Bernie Sanders supporters.

BOTH SIDES ARE FULL OF SHIT!

Of course POC remembers the racist dog whistles on the HRC campaign side in 2008. But for whatever reason, it's not hurting the Clintons at this point. Sorry, it's just not. And Sanders' fanatics continuing to raise concern about us poor darkies as if many of them even cared is not going to help Sanders much. They're using this to exploit black voters' very real experience with racism. I don't think it's going to work today or going forward. My view.

Until the Democratic Party accepts that black voters think and act for themselves, nothing will change.

This feigned outrage over HRC's racist antics may or may not work to stop people from voting for her; however, there's no guarantee that non-support for HRC will translate into support for Bernie Sanders.

So, I understand that I speak for myself, but I hope that this racism card stops being playing by both sides.

I hope that you guys please stop this and just accept that POC will vote the way we want in the end.

[giftedgirl77]

26. Not only are they constantly barking it but continue with

the constant insults towards all minorities that don't jump on the Sanders bandwagon.

[Armstead]

28. "Until the Democratic Party accepts that black voters think and act for themselves..."

I totally disagree with your portrayal of Sanders and his supporters, but I totally agree with that statement.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. Not Sanders himself and not all his supporters,

but there's a disturbing trend with some of them.

[JI7]

31. And the attacks on Obama after 2008

Many of those who bring up 2008 now were just fine with the attacks on Obama through his presidency including calling him a piece of shit.

And even now many continue attacking him

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

37. Yep! Agreed. And BOTH sides are guilty. HRC's team was guilty in 2008 and beyond...

...and Sanders's team is definitely guilty on this. Sanders called for the president to be primaried in 2012. His supporters agreed with him then and now. The bashing on both sides is there.

[loyalsister]

35. That's exactly why the polls disgust me

Both sides have supporters trying to one up each other with demographic polling numbers. It strikes me as exploitive and devalues people by portraying them as monolithic group thinkers when the truth is there is a lot of variation.

[Skwmom]

24. There's an undercurrent of disdain for Obama from the Clinton Camp and it bubbles up occasionally.

If they get back in the Whitehouse, it will erupt then.

[democrattotheend]

33. I don't think it comes from Clinton herself

By all accounts, she and Obama have gotten pretty close, and I am pretty sure he wants her to win. Most of the sniping is from disgruntled campaign operatives who never moved on from 2008.

[Skwmom]

36. Oh, I think if you listen you will see some lingering anger over losing to Obama. n/t

[democrattotheend]

32. She and Obama buried the hatchet long ago

I was and still am a huge Obama supporter and I was as mad as anyone about some of the stuff her campaign did in 2008. But they buried the hatchet long ago, and she was a loyal supporter of his in 2008 and beyond. So I don't see why we need to hold onto anger and relitigate the 2008 primaries. That said, it is kind of amusing to see her heaping praise on Obama in the same forums she attacked him in (and admittedly kicked his ass most of the time) 8 years ago. But it doesn't bother me because I think she genuinely does admire him at this point.

[McCamy Taylor]

34. OMG! This is tooooo funny. And aimed at certain voters who are secretly afraid that a vote against

Clinton will take away the magical fairy racial equality brownie points they earned in 2008 by voting for Obama.

It's ok, Obama 2008 supporters, if you want to vote for someone besides his anointed successor. Really. It doesn't make you a racist.

There, is that better?