3 ms·

I think that there's an argument to be made that Hillary didn't rally the Black vote well enough, because she assumed that it would transfer to her as part of a

by stvswn 10y ago

I think that there's an argument to be made that Hillary didn't rally the Black vote well enough, because she assumed that it would transfer to her as part of a new permanent Democratic majority instead of being an artifact of enthusiasm for the first Black president. In other words, she took them for granted. I didn't see much pandering from her at all. The most shameful race-related story of the Democratic side was when Bernie was libeled as a racist by Black activists with thinly disguised connections to the Clinton campaign. Hillary made strategic missteps, I don't think that portraying Blacks as victims was one of them. Your point may be that the Democrats have played this game too long and turned off working-class whites, creating an opening for a populist, politically incorrect Republican who only has to agree to keep his hands off of Social Security and Medicare and he's "liberal enough." I think there's some truth to that.

sidlls 10y ago
Hillary didn't rally the black vote well enough during the general, but that's one failing among many of hers as a candidate in that election. I was referring specifically to the campaign for the nomination, in which she and her campaign successfully cast Bernie as a racist, as you note, and did so in part by portraying him as though he thought poverty caused racism instead of racism contributing to the poverty of black folks. There were other factors at play (e.g. Lewis' remarks about not remembering seeing Bernie around during civil rights protests and activities), but those are separte, if related, issues. But, yes, you are also spot on regarding the Democrats' malfeasance in "play[ing] this game too long," too.
- stvswn 10y ago
  Interesting. I wonder if the Clinton campaign tried to get too clever against Bernie by dividing his support -- tell Blacks he's not committed to civil rights, tell Hispanics he's anti-immigration, tell women his supporters are all "Bernie Bros." This way, it would be hard for him to catch fire outside of white males, making the math hard for him. She may have won the battle but lost the war: the message that she's not the candidate for the white working class resonated too well, and she didn't do enough to pivot back to the Rust Belt when it mattered -- giving Trump an opening to "pick the lock" on the great Democratic firewall.
  - sidlls 10y ago
    That and there were plenty of black folks pissed off at the "all blacks are poor" character of the campaign (in fairness the Bernie campaign was terribly tone deaf and made it all too easy for her to do what she did).
- uncletaco 10y ago
  Even during the democratic primary there's not much of a case to be made that her campaign sought to portray Sanders as a racist. We even have emails that show her campaign's strategy was largely focused on wooing over black leaders during the primary[1]. Also, several staff members from Sanders' campaign admitted they did not do a lot to appeal to black voters, having already assumed they were in the bag for Clinton[2]. She drew comparisons between her own campaign's efforts at outreach and his[3], comparisons which have been proven to be true. Saying she cast Sanders as "racist" is both misleading and ignores the fact that his outreach to black voters was provably lackluster. [1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-wikileaks-emails-clinton-black-voters-20161022-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-w... [2] http://fusion.net/story/323539/how-bernie-sanders-lost-black-voters/ http://fusion.net/story/323539/how-bernie-sanders-lost-black... [3] https://secure.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-speech-racism-harlem-219311 https://secure.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-sp...
  - sidlls 10y ago
    None of these things contradicts what I wrote or supports your assertion.
    - uncletaco 10y ago
      Then prove to me she was casting Sanders as a racist. Show me how Sanders' campaign was not lackluster when wooing black voters.
alva 10y ago
> I didn't see much pandering from her at all This one was hilarious and disgusting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ESQvJ-qlsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ESQvJ-qlsk H: "I always carry hot sauce in my bag" (referencing a lyric in a recent Beyonce song) Radio host: "I just want you to know, this is going to look like pandering to black people" H: "... Is it working?"
- lern_too_spel 10y ago
  She's clearly joking about something she's talked about since 2012 (carrying Tabasco sauce in her purse) suddenly becoming culturally relevant. What's so disgusting about understanding a radio show's audience?

by stvswn 10y ago

sidlls 10y ago

Hillary didn't rally the black vote well enough during the general, but that's one failing among many of hers as a candidate in that election. I was referring specifically to the campaign for the nomination, in which she and her campaign successfully cast Bernie as a racist, as you note, and did so in part by portraying him as though he thought poverty caused racism instead of racism contributing to the poverty of black folks. There were other factors at play (e.g. Lewis' remarks about not remembering seeing Bernie around during civil rights protests and activities), but those are separte, if related, issues. But, yes, you are also spot on regarding the Democrats' malfeasance in "play[ing] this game too long," too.

stvswn 10y ago
Interesting. I wonder if the Clinton campaign tried to get too clever against Bernie by dividing his support -- tell Blacks he's not committed to civil rights, tell Hispanics he's anti-immigration, tell women his supporters are all "Bernie Bros." This way, it would be hard for him to catch fire outside of white males, making the math hard for him. She may have won the battle but lost the war: the message that she's not the candidate for the white working class resonated too well, and she didn't do enough to pivot back to the Rust Belt when it mattered -- giving Trump an opening to "pick the lock" on the great Democratic firewall.
- sidlls 10y ago
  That and there were plenty of black folks pissed off at the "all blacks are poor" character of the campaign (in fairness the Bernie campaign was terribly tone deaf and made it all too easy for her to do what she did).
uncletaco 10y ago
Even during the democratic primary there's not much of a case to be made that her campaign sought to portray Sanders as a racist. We even have emails that show her campaign's strategy was largely focused on wooing over black leaders during the primary[1]. Also, several staff members from Sanders' campaign admitted they did not do a lot to appeal to black voters, having already assumed they were in the bag for Clinton[2]. She drew comparisons between her own campaign's efforts at outreach and his[3], comparisons which have been proven to be true. Saying she cast Sanders as "racist" is both misleading and ignores the fact that his outreach to black voters was provably lackluster. [1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-wikileaks-emails-clinton-black-voters-20161022-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-w... [2] http://fusion.net/story/323539/how-bernie-sanders-lost-black-voters/ http://fusion.net/story/323539/how-bernie-sanders-lost-black... [3] https://secure.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-speech-racism-harlem-219311 https://secure.politico.com/story/2016/02/hillary-clinton-sp...
- sidlls 10y ago
  None of these things contradicts what I wrote or supports your assertion.
  - uncletaco 10y ago
    Then prove to me she was casting Sanders as a racist. Show me how Sanders' campaign was not lackluster when wooing black voters.

alva 10y ago

> I didn't see much pandering from her at all This one was hilarious and disgusting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ESQvJ-qlsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ESQvJ-qlsk H: "I always carry hot sauce in my bag" (referencing a lyric in a recent Beyonce song) Radio host: "I just want you to know, this is going to look like pandering to black people" H: "... Is it working?"

lern_too_spel 10y ago
She's clearly joking about something she's talked about since 2012 (carrying Tabasco sauce in her purse) suddenly becoming culturally relevant. What's so disgusting about understanding a radio show's audience?