(and Terry McAuliffe's, too)
 Surprise! Hillary Clinton won big in West Virginia, a state where having a college degree is almost as rare as being Black. A state where exit polls show 2 in 10 voters said race was a factor in their vote (second only to Mississippi, and 8 out 10 of them went for Hillary.) And a state where, as in parts of Pennsylvania, racist white sentiments have stunned, and in some cases unnerved, poll workers. And while the Moderate Voice wants you to know that racism is not the only reason folks in WV vote against, Obama, the fact remains that as John Cole explained back in March, racism remains a vibrant feature of the Rust Belt, which includes not only West Virginia, but also parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, (and Indiana, too,) all of which, not coincidentally, Hillary won: While there is racism present to varying levels in every state, what makes WV different is that there is not a presence of a large AA community who will enthusiastically balance out that vote like there are in other states. Add to it that WV is a Hillary Clinton kind of state- lots of blue-collar union types who are comfortable working with and voting the party machine. As the Clinton’s are an established name, the Clinton’s are viewed as the party candidate.
Again, I am not claiming a refusal to vote for Obama makes one racist. I am claiming that, in WV, at least, there will be a number of people who refuse to vote for him because they are in fact racist. That isn’t a smear, that is just the truth. If you can not deal with it, well, that is on you. It is also why people like me have been frequently upset throughout this campaign when we have seen what we perceive to be dogwhistles coming from the Clinton camp. Whipping up this sort of sentiment is, in my book, inexcusable. So there was Hillary tonight, giving a defiant speech and insisting that, with certain niceties toward Obama, she's going on and going forward (Terry McAuliffe nearly burst a blood vessel arguing with Chris Matthews on this point, with Matthews trying to get him to understand that the media doesn't want her to quit, the media wants a contested convention...)
BTW, apparently, Hillary didn't take Barack's concession phone call tonight. He left a message.
| Labels: 2008 election, Hillary Clinton, presidential candidates, race and politics |
