1/28/08 Update - Jesse Jackson gave interview to AfroSpear member Gina McCauley on the South Carolina results.
South Carolina is giving a landslide victory to Barack Obama in the Democratic primary tonight. Not just Black voters ... but, young voters, women voters, rural voters and everyone else that could reach the ballot box voted in favor of Barack Obama. The racially divisive politics that Bill & Hillary Clinton brought to the campaign in South Carolina failed. There is no other way to look at it ... Barack Obama regained his footing as the transformative candidate for the 21st century.
Exit polls show that Barack Obama won a majority of white voters under 30, white men, and white college-educated voters. Hillary Clinton had many endorsements from Black preachers and congressmen in South Carolina. However, Hillary only received 17% of the Black vote in South Carolina. I bet those Black preachers and congressmen are feeling pretty lonely out there tonight.
The question now is whether Team Clinton will learn a lesson ... or does Team Clinton feel that race-baiting will help them with white and Hispanic voters on Super Tuesday. When asked about the Obama victory in South Carolina, Bill Clinton reminded the reporter that "...Jesse Jackson won here in 1984 and 1988.". That sounds like racial code words for white voters around the country that they should discount the South Carolina vote. After all, what comparision is there between Obama and Jesse other than the fact both candidates are Black. Bill Clinton could have noted that he won the SC primary in 1992 or that John Edwards won the SC primary in 2004 ... but, he went directly to the white boogeyman (Jesse Jackson). Is Team Clinton truly that cynical about the Democratic electorate?
Time will tell. My view is simple. Team Clinton feels entitled to the presidency as if they are royalty. In my view Team Clinton is 1990s .... yesterday ... fights and tactics that worked well last century. This year we have an opportunity to elect a leader for the 21st century ... a leader that can transform America and bring us together in ways that Hillary Clinton can never do.
The policy differences between the two (or three if you count Bill) aren't that different. Therefore, the message of change and the image of Obama as a unifying person should make the difference.
What are your thoughts on the South Carolina results?
10 comments:
Villager,
I had to stop by to share the glee! It was a beatdown in South Carolina today! The media and all of Clinton's folks can act like it had no impact, but it was obvious that they were stunned.
The race coding and all of their little dirty tricks are not going to stop. Even Obama openly acknowledged that fact during his speech.
I expect them to step it up after today. Team Clinton will definitely have to use different tacits. But they have so many helpers that are more than willing to do their dirty work.
The best part about tonight was his speech! OMG! I have never heard such an eloquent verbal slashing of Billary!
Villager...
Now I hope we will step up and do our part to make an positive impact on the nation and the world!
For the world to see what the US can do would go a long way toward repairing our negative image.
Lady D and Iya - It was a remarkable result in South Carolina. I don't beleive that anyone predicted that Obama would win with as large a margin as he did. His total votes (over 288k) in the state were more than the total Democratic votes cast in the 2004 primary. Barack Obama is bringing on board new voters. That is part of the magic that he brings to the election.
Anyhow, thank you both for sharing your village voice with us.
Forgive me, Villager…this comment may be a little off topic as regards the exciting results in South Carolina.
I just finished reading the preview of the President’s State of the Union address on CNN’s website. I will listen tonight to see if what the article reports holds true, but if it does, I AM OUTRAGED!
Quotes from the article, “Unfinished business for Bush in final State of the Union address”, (sorry, I don’t know how to link)… "Senior administration officials say the theme of this year's address will be "Trust and Empower" -- giving the American people more say in their own lives instead of turning it over to officials in Washington.
"His address will advocate his philosophy of trusting Americans, empowering them to make good and wise decisions, especially when it comes to keeping more of their hard-earned money, rather than sending it to Washington," Perino said."
Excuse me, but I was of the impression that it is “we the people” who “trust and empower” our elected officials to represent us and do the right thing, though they often forget from whence their mandate comes and along with that, to whom they are accountable.
When I hear Obama speak (with much pride and excitement), I hear him speak to his vision for this country and not just what HE will do, but more importantly and more doable, what WE can do together as a team.
Well, thank you Mr. President for your trust and empowerment. I seriously don’t know how I survived these 55 years, raised two sons as a single parent, sent them to private universities while cutting my orange juice with water, and gave almost 34 years of my life to successful government service.
This just underscores, as if it needed any emphasis, his all-consuming arrogance. Trust and empowerment, indeed!
Peace, Kat
Kat - Why don't you tell us what you really think? (smile). I'm heading off now to find the link you used to read his state of the union. Thanx for pointing it out to me. Gratefully, this is the last one from him!
Villager, I ALWAYS told you what I really think :-).
Kat
Personally, I have been an Edwards supporter. And was disappointed Edwards didn't do better in the SC primary.
That said, I do NOT want Hill/Bill in the White House.
I am going to try to do more research on Obama soon, because I want to know more about this candidate. I know he is a dynamic speaker, but I just have to do some more research.
Do you think that Obama could pick Edwards as his running-mate? If not, who would you predict?
Mo - I think one of the most interesting dances over the coming weeks will be the one done by both Hillary and Obama as they work to get eventual endorsement from John Edwards. Personally, I liked the idea of Edwards becoming an Attorney General in an Obama administration.
Click here for issue research put out by Obama's campaign.
Did you see Ted Kennedy's endorsement speech earlier today?
I think people are overlooking the importance of John Edwards. If Obama and HilBill keep running neck and neck like they have been (and probably will continue to do), Edwards becomes very important depending on how many delegates he accumulates.
If (more accurately when) he drops out, whatever delegates he got throughout the primary race will go to whichever candidate he throws his support behind.
Woozie - I figure that Edwards will end up endorsing whichever remaining candidate gives him the best deal. He seems quite ambitious in that way. Do you agree?
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