<p>"(CNN) In what appear to be the New York senator’s most blunt comments to date regarding a racial division in the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Clinton suggested Wednesday that “White Americans” are increasingly turning away from Barack Obamas candidacy.</p>
<p>“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” Clinton said in an interview with USA TODAY.</p>
<p>Clinton cited an Associated Press poll “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”</p>
<p>“There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said.</p>
<p>Exit polls from Tuesday’s primaries in Indiana and North Carolina show Clinton won about 60 percent of the white vote in both states. That percentage is down from the Ohio primary on March 4, in which Clinton won upwards of 65 percent of the white vote. Meanwhile, Clinton garnered 63 percent of the white vote in Pennsylvania on April 22.</p>
<p>Speaking with the paper, Clinton rejected the notion her comments were racially divisive in any way.</p>
<p>Imagine the outcry if a republican had said something similar? She’s mortally wounding the democratic candidate. Shame I’m not wild about the republican.</p>
<p>When this race began, I admired so many things about both candidates. I was the “swing vote” in our family. As time has gone on I have been stunned by the sheer nastiness of the Clinton campaign. I have to say that if somehow she were to pull off the nomination, I would have to hold my nose as I voted for her. </p>
<p>For those of you who are die hard Hillary fans (and I live with a couple), you have no idea how petty, vindictive, and jealous she seems to those of us who were approaching this race with an open mind.</p>
<p>How different is this from Donna Brazille saying that blacks wont vote for her if she is the nominee. I have been so disgusted by the way she behaved before the South Carolina primaries. Obama and his followers have been playing the race card for a very long time. </p>
<p>The only thing I have been hearing on the news and from Obama followers is how she is loosing the black vote. Obama’s strategist, Axelrod, said the white working votes have always gone to the Republicans, as such, the democratic party should not rely on this block. She is trying to say that she can win this block, and Obama has not shown that he can win this group. Obama has not shown he can win latinos either. MacCain was part of the gang of 14 trying to reform the immigration system (one main concern for latinos), and I think he will do better with this group than John kerry did. Kerry won just 56% of their votes. </p>
<p>Obama will be lucky to win with his current coalition if he does not get about 70% of Hillary’s supporters.</p>
<p>Some of Obama followers, and his media choir have been more nasty and vile, and these groups have completely turn me off Obama. I have to admit that I was not going to vote for him under any circumstances.</p>
<p>zoosermon, to really understand Donna you have to follow her actions after Nevada. As a black person, I have to say I am really ashamed of Donna. She makes black people look bad. Black people are not monolithic, I know a lot of black people who are not supporting Obama, and they have legitimate reasons for not supporting him. </p>
<p>Michelle Obama telling black people to wake really offended me, if she really cared about black people she and her husband should have done more for the black people in south side Chicago. Don’t tell me to wake up, I have woken up a long time ago, and I have seized all the opportunities abundant in this country. I have been very proud of America, it has given me a lot of opportunities to do something better with myself. I don’t earn over $200,000 like Michelle, but I am still proud of this Country. </p>
<p>America is not perfect, I have been disgusted with the way some of its people have treated Blacks, Irish, Italians, Chinese, Natives, etc, but I think there have been significant improvements. Although, I have to admit that we still have a long way to go. I believe in America, I believe in the opportunities it offers to its citizens. These opportunities should be made available to everyone, especially, poor people in inner cities and appalachia, and other rural areas. I will support any candidate who address these issues, and most importantly, who has shown in the past that they have been able to do something about it.</p>
<p>As much as I would like to see a black president in my lifetime, I don’t think Obama is the one, despite what Oprah and Donna think.</p>
<p>Donna is an uncommitted superdelegate. She has not come out in favor of Obama, and in the interviews I’ve seen she’s been maddeningly unbiased. I say maddeningly because I am an Obama supporter and I wish she would support him, but she hasn’t!</p>
<p>“Michelle Obama telling black people to wake really offended me, if she really cared about black people she and her husband should have done more the black people in south side Chicago.”</p>
<p>? Friend of mine was a community organizer in Chicago, and says that he worked organizing with both Michelle (before her current jobs) and Barack. Said he supports Barack because of Barack’s long background in community organizing.</p>
<p>Tega, what exactly is it that you expect that Barack Obama could have done to greatly improve conditions in South Side Chicago, as a young community activist straight out of law school (or even as a single state representative), that hasn’t been done for such folks by countless other politicians and community activists? Seems to me you’re placing an unreasonable burden on a single individual—that of making measurable improvements in a community whose social and economic problems are perennial, intractable, and rooted in multiple causes. </p>
<p>A single individual, working at the city or state representative level cannot end gang violence, take drugs off the streets, create living-wage jobs, or greatly improve educational conditions. The most a single individual has been able to accomplish in such inner city circumstances, is to effect improvement in small increments—help open neighborhood free clinics, implement after school tutoring programs, offer legal aid, etc. </p>
<p>The problems facing South Side Chicago have been there for decades, and there is no single magic bullet. Obama went in with the desire to help. He rolled up his sleeves and actually lived in and among those same people he was trying to help, when he could have gone to work in a cushy law firm, making big bucks. </p>
<p>It certainly has been well and truly pointed out that he is not God. He can’t wave a magic wand and single handedly turn the tide of long standing social and economic blight virtually overnight. But that seems to the benchmark you’ve set for him in order to give the guy any credit. Your condemnation of him has been so absolute, that you don’t seem to have the ability to employ any level of objective thinking where he is concerned. </p>
<p>I get it that you won’t be voting for him—your privilege as a “proud” American Citizen. That’s fine. I may not either (as I’ve said, I’m waiting to learn a lot more about where both candidates who will ultimately face-off in Nov., stand on all the issues), but I’ll not be hobbling him with double-standards, and irrational hatred.</p>
<p>I apologize tega, but I’ve not heard or read where Michelle told black people “to wake”. That’s an extremely vague reference. I’d appreciate it if you’d elaborate. A full quote in context would be of enormous help for the purposes of discourse. What exactly is it that you feel she was saying?</p>
<p>At this stage, as a Democrat, my question about Obama is can he or can he not find a way to gain the support of the majority of the electorate. More specificially, can he gain the support of the sectors of the electorate that are strategically necessary to win a general election and garner a majority in the electoral college. My question about Hilary is the same.</p>
<p>They are both intelligent, well-intentioned individuals with whom I agree far more on important issues than I disagree. I think that they would both attempt to lead the country in a better direction than any Republican. They both have positives and negatives in terms of their apparent ability to lead the nation effectively.</p>
<p>I’m’ interested in electability. I’m not interested in picking a candidate and watching him or her go down in flames in the general election AGAIN. Although I would infinitely prefer that we leave race AND gender out of the discussion, it would be extremely foolish to act as if they didn’t exist as factors that affect voter decision-making. Acknowledging that fact does not make a person a sexist OR a racist. Neither does comparing your performance to that of your rival.</p>
<p>Obama needs to worry more about what comes out of his OWN mouth–and that of his former and current associates–than he does about anything Hilary Clinton says about whether he appeals to certain groups of white voters. He needs to be thinking about forging a bridge to the people he mortally offended with his “guns and religion” remarks–the very people whose change in allegiance cost the Dems the presidency and both houses of congress in the past.</p>
<p>poetsheart, according to what I read in “Dreams of My Father,” Obama was an organizer on the South Side <em>before</em> going to law school. (Or perhaps my memory is faulty.) One of the things I appreciated about that book was the way in which he acknowledged that he, as a wet behind the ears young man, had to learn how to work with people effectively, rather than thinking that he could charge in and wave a magic wand.</p>
<p>The more venom Sen. Clinton aims at Obama at this point, the more convinced I become that she’s no longer seeking the '08 nomination, but attempting to contribute to Obama’s defeat in November so that she can be the Democratic nominee four years from now against a 76-year-old incumbent.</p>
<p>I’m confused. Everyone’s accusing Clinton of being vindictive, of petty racism, etc. etc. But of what she said here, was there anything that was factually incorrect?</p>
<p>“How different is this from Donna Brazille saying”</p>
<p>Words that come straight from the candidate’s mouth are special because there’s no debate as to whether a surrogate is actually speaking for the candidate. If Mark Penn had said what Hillary said, we’d all be arguing about whether she told him to say that, does she believe what he believes, etc. But she said it herself.</p>
<p>He was the state senator for that area, and you can do a search on youtube about Obama and his lack of oversight of the “public” housing in his constituency. These public housing were mainly owned by Rezko. You can also do a search on Chicago Tribune about how he became a community organizer and some of the motives behind it. </p>
<p>I live close to harlem, and harlem has a reputation of being a bad place to live some time ago. The state senator for harlem, the borough president, the mayor of NY and NYPD made a concerted effort to reduce crime significantly in Harlem, and I have to say, they have done a very good job. Harlem still needs some work, but it is a much better place to live than before. I don’t agree with you that no one can solve the problems of south side chicago, if the people in charge want to solve the problems they can find a way to solve the problems. </p>
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<p>I don’t understand how you can conclude from the writings that I hate Obama. Why should I hate him? Can you please point to the instances of my double-standards? There is nothing in his past that indicates that he can change anything, I might be wrong, but I guess we have to wait and see. At this moment he is just not my candidate. </p>