You know, if “one good Democrat after another” would simply stop saying stupid shit that can easily be interpreted as racist, maybe the reaction would abate as well.

amen!
And being black is a plus as a candidate!?
It’s a new world, huh?

I think I know what she meant, that it makes him a “special” candidate, but please.

.

nice try.

You mean, like that?

Pretend HRC is winning the campaign and by all realistic estimates can not be defeated except with the very unlikely event of OB swaying SuperD’s and then lets say Oprah comes on Larry King one night and says “HRC is where she is for two reasons only: married to Bill and she’s a white woman”. Next day the blogs are buzzing, msm and talking heads are all bobbing up and down and then Oprah goes on Charlie Rose, Travis(?) and the Today Show and repeats her opinion and says “I was selected to host a successful talkshow and own a hit magazine and production company only because I am a black woman and everyone should realize that HRC wouldn’t be where she is today if she wasn’t a white woman married to a former president”.

What would the Clinton supporters do? What would we expect OB to do? What would we expect Oprah to do? I know it is not a perfect comparison but if a nOB supporter (well respected, etc) would bring up sexism as the reason HRC is where she is how would that go over with the clinton crowd…

macjazz, see this kevin drum post. if it was a dogwhistle, it was an extremely stupid one.

it seems to me like every five seconds one side or another in this race is crying “dogwhistle!” whenever anyone says something stupid. well guess what? when each candidate speaks publicly every single day. plus they each have thousands of supporters (many of which could be called “surrogates”) it really isn’t hard to find some stupid phrasing that can be presented as a dogwhistle. and each time, the dogwhistle charge, no matter how flimsy, is considered to be 100% credible to one side and 100% nonsense to the other.

i think the whole thing is ridiculous. everyone just sees what they want to see in these controversies. if you’re predisposed to dislike one candidate, you believe everything bad against them. but if you’re predisposed to like the candidate, the entire charge just seems preposterous. i’m gonna state flat out that i think pretty much every dogwhistle charge in this race so far has been preposterous. another reason that i can’t wait for this silly season to be over.

Yeah, sure, because there’ve been so many black candidates leading the presidential field preceding him. And so many black presidents before him as well. Not. Obama’s gotten where he is because he’s a very skilled politician and one of the better political orators we’ve had (kinda reminds me of Bill Clinton in this way, as others have observed).

I actually worry about both Barrack and Hillary in the general election, simply because every president we’ve ever had has been a white male of northern European descent … like John McCain. Have we changed enough demographically to elect a black man or a white woman? I sure as hell hope so! But I think both candidates are where they are because they’re savvy politicians, not primarily because of their race or gender. Ferraro has her head up her ass.

Perhaps I would feel differently if Bubba hadn’t blown off Obama’s win in SC by bringing up Jackson.

And here is Geraldine Ferraro’s letter of resignation to Hillary:

Dear Hillary –

I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.

The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you.

I won’t let that happen.

Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren.

You have my deep admiration and respect.

Gerry

Notice how she is STILL blaming the Obama campaign.

This was all staged to remind those “Alabama” Pennsylvanians that Clinton was running against a black man.

I’ve seen this brand of campaign before, only Karl Rove was at the helm.

Kossacks had no problem blaming racist Latinos and Asians for Obama’s losses in California, Arizona and Texas - I was watching the threads myself as they developed. No one is safe from your witchhunt.

but putting that aside, i do think the ferraro thing has turned into a stupid gotcha moment. just like the michelle obama comment was a stupid gotcha moment and the “periodically” kerfuffle was too.

call me naive, but i don’t think either of the two democratic candidates are sexist or racist. some of their supporters might be, but they’re not responsible for that. and in this race where sexism and racism is in the air pretty much constantly, and where there are literally thousands of people who can be deemed “surrogates”, it’s very easy for each side to play the gotcha-sexism! and gotcha-racism! game.