Democratic Party Race

So race has finally been injected into the presidential race -- by Bill Clinton, whose comments about South Carolina and Jesse Jackson more than suggested, "Well, what do you expect from a bunch of blacks? They'll vote for anyone who's black." I guess the fact that the white vote was divided up almost evenly among Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Edwards (with a slight edge for Edwards) is irrelevant. That does suggest, with 80% of the African-American vote going for Obama, that African-Americans likely took race into consideration even more than did whites in South Carolina. However, please note that Bill Clinton is suggesting that this occurred primarily due to racism on the part of African-Americans. A Democrat is accusing African-Americans of racism. That should go over well with the African-American community.

Of course, one could argue, "Well, isn't that in fact the case? Aren't African-Americans voting for Obama because he's black?" That is undoubtedly true for some -- just as it was undoubtedly true that some whites voted not so much for Edwards or Clinton, but against Obama. I would even suggest that Edwards' good showing among whites (and, I would guess, mostly white men) stems more from both racism and sexism among SC Democrats than the popularity of Edwards. Unfortunately, that's an exit poll that won't be conducted, and would likely not result in many honest answers. But to say that African-Americans as a group voted for Obama primarily because he was black and not because of what he is running on is stereotyping African-Americans as a group. Looks like the Clintons are showing their true colors -- or, their color-consciousness. It's good to see the underlying racism within the Democratic party and their fundamental beliefs finally rising to the surface for all to see.