Kennedy’s Turn On The Clintons – HOT!!!

The Kennedy clan has turned on the Clintons and are throwing their support to Obama.  Monday will be the worst day in the campaign for Hillary.  More leading Democrats are to follow . . .

 The reason is two fold, Bill Clinton’s harsh words about Obama, and his overt race baiting, the likes of which have not been seen since Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton campaigned.

 This may be the beginning of the end for Hillary

The Black Bill Clinton, Revealed

 Political Night Train thinks the following is one of the funniest articles to come along during this primary.

Funny thing, it seems to summarize Bill Clinton pretty well as an Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson black wantabe. Sorry Bill,

you ain’t got the right moves, even though you got the right values for ol’ time racists.

Knocked Up

By RHONDA CHRISS LOKEMAN

Creators Syndicate Inc.

(Ex-President Bill Clinton announced he will campaign door to door in South Carolina on behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s candidacy in that state’s presidential primary.)

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Yo, it’s Bill.

Bill who?

Bill Clinton, the first black president and soon-to-be first gentleman. Let me in, bro.

Sorry, but I need to see some ID.

You’re kidding, right? OK, OK, I know what you want. I get this all the time. How’s this? (Clinton bites his lower lip.) Look familiar?

Nope, sorry. Can’t be too careful these days. Some angry white guy’s been impersonating Bill Clinton and trying to separate white voters from Barack Obama by marginalizing him as an affirmative action hire for the Oval Office. Bill Clinton would never do that, so I want to make sure you’re for real.

Hmm. I see your point. How’s this for identification?

(A shuffling noise is heard outside the house.)

What are you doing?

I’m starting a “Soul Train” line.

What for?

Andy Young told y’all he knew I was blacker than Barack because I know how to form a “Soul Train” line. If that’s not proof of my negritude, what is?

Please tell me you didn’t just say that.

Just talking black, bro, like Jesse and Al.

You mean like Bob Johnson talked black when he made it seem like Barack was a drug dealer, and Hillary just sat there?

Hey, don’t dis my man B.J. It isn’t every day a black billionaire stumps for a white woman senator against a Harvard-educated black senator with no criminal record but lofty goals. President Lyndon Johnson said we shall overcome, remember? B.J.’s wealth and politics are proof that we did.

(Heavy sigh) Ambassador Andy Young also said you were blacker than Barack because you probably had slept with more black women. He must have forgotten he was an apostle of Dr. King and thought he was Chris Rock instead. Besides, it was Dr. King, not LBJ, with whom civil rights activists sang “We Shall Overcome.”

Whatever. Why do you keep bringing up race? Barack made you do it to make me look bad, admit it.

No, sir. I actually can think on my own. Anyway, you brought up race first, not me.

Did not! Take that back! It’s the news media stirring up trouble. Did you see how I wagged my finger at reporters when I told them, “I did not have racial relations with that man, Mr. Hussein Osama?”

Yeah, I saw it. I had a deja vu, actually. And it’s Obama, not Osama.

You know the media is always biased against us black men, right?

Sir, I think you’re confused. The media has mostly defended you as playing hardball politics, while making Barack look like a whiner just ’cause he’s not afraid to confront your lies and set the record straight. By the way, I think that’s the Truth Squad coming up behind you on the sidewalk.

Truth? Barack can’t handle the truth. What does that kid from Chicago know about truth?

Apparently, more than you, sir. Lying got you impeached, remember? Doesn’t that make you partly responsible for the Bush II reign?

Nope. That was Ronald Reagan. Say, you wouldn’t really vote for a black Muslim who was educated at one of those madrassa terror camps, would you?

Sir, Barack Obama is Christian, not Muslim. And that school in Indonesia was not a madrassa. Yet your pals, most recently former Sen. Bob Kerrey, keep beating that dead horse. Isn’t that using post-9/11 fears the way Bush II has done?

After all I’ve done for you, we feminists have to stick together. Speaking of sticking, I should get some street cred for sticking it to the press, right?

Not exactly. Demagogues are notorious for blaming the press. Bushies do it all the time and have been masters at media manipulation. Sir, I’m afraid you’re wrecking your legacy of elder statesman by coming off as an egomaniac having a meltdown.

Not true! I’m at your front door because I need your vote to help make Hillary the first woman in the Oval Office.

Sir, under your administration, there were many women in the Oval Office, as I understand.

Stop twisting my words! I’m a lover, not a fighter. Besides, this campaign is about Hillary and one giant leap for womankind. It’s not about me. By the way, what do you think about me? Does this orange tie make me look fat?

Sir, if you aren’t careful, you’ll gain a reputation as Machiavellian and the new Karl Rove.

I can’t be Karl Rove. Rove’s not a brother.

Neither are you, sir.

There you go again, bringing up race.

© 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

 

Rhonda Chriss Lokeman ( lokeman@kcstar.com) is a columnist for The Kansas City Star. To find out more about Rhonda Chriss Lokeman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Crea

The Bill Clinton (Negative) Effect

The Clinton Effect

26 Jan 2008 07:28 pm

It looks like Bill Clinton’s heavy-handed attacks on Barack Obama didn’t serve his wife well in South Carolina, with about sixty percent of voters saying Clinton’s actions were a factor in their decision in what looks to have been a landslide win for Barack Obama.

That, I think, is about as it should be. Team Clinton has consistently, and rightly, maintained that they’re within their rights to be tough on Obama. And so they are — politics is a contact sport. But that doesn’t mean that maximum viciousness is actually a good idea. You want to be seen as likable, fair, judicious, etc. and over the past few weeks the Clinton campaign has been making its candidate look like something other than the mature, experienced, sober-minded choice.

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/the_clinton_effect.php

South Carolina Slams Hillary, Picks Obama

South Carolina rejects Bill Clinton but Democratic Party apparatus still working to sabotage Hillary into the nomination
Kirt Meham
Jan. 27, 2008

South Carolina told Bill Clinton to go back to his home and stop divisive racist politics that started in America since 1980. Obama gave his life’s best speech. The chanting was clear. ‘Yes we can’. Behind the scene the corrupt Democratic Party is eager to nominate Hillary through the back door. The game of super-delegates is on. Obama may win the primary and Hillary may get the nomination. That will the end of Democratic Party as we know it. The corruption, racism and stupidity of the career politicians are clear in America.

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/18971.asp

Bill Clinton Says Obama Is Just Like Jesse Jackson – WRONG!!!

Political Night Train senses a dramatic change in the Clinton’s political future.  It seems black women have finally come to their senses and repudiated Bill Clinton, the supposed first black president.  They’ve finally realized that Obama represents the future, the kind of black man, and kind of candidate, black or white they want in office.  The South Carolina primary exit polls clearly show that Bill has hurt Hillary’s standings with blacks.  For Bill Clinton to then say Obama is just like Jesse Jackson is probably the worst statement Clinton has made thus far, and an indication of just how far they are willing to go.  The Clintons have made race an issue, not Obama and now they see the effect for the first time.  As a race baiter, Bill Clinton has more in common with Jesse Jackson than Obama.  Both Bill and Jesse Jackson use race as an issue to divide the voters; both have had extramarital affairs, considered by many to be a moral value among black men and an indication that neither respects women.  This is the real basis for those who consider Bill Clinton to have been the first black President.  Perhaps we are now seeing the end of racially divisive politics as practiced by the Clintons.  So, ask yourself, do you want four more years of Bill Clinton’s moral values in the White House?  Do you want four more years of Hillary Clinton’s divisive politics, dividing us by race and class?  Or do you want four years of politics where we really begin to transcend the race issue?

Bubba: Obama Is Just Like Jesse Jackson

January 26, 2008 8:18 PMSaid Bill Clinton today in Columbia, SC: “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in ’84 and ’88. Jackson ran a good campaign.  And Obama ran a good campaign here.”This was in response to a question from ABC News’ David Wright about it taking “two Clintons to beat” Obama. Jackson had not been mentioned.Boy, I can’t understand why anyone would think the Clintons are running a race-baiting campaign to paint Obama as “the black candidate.” 

Elvis Is Dead and Bill Clinton Is Bitter

Bill Clinton has attacked Obama repeatly over the past several months, each time showing a bitter side of Bill that few would acknowledge is there.  Bill is an angry man, and its beginning to show.  Deep within Bill is an anger few have seen.  It is anger about how he has been treated in the past, the lack of love in his marriage, and how he feels he’s being treated now.  George Stephanopoulos probably felt it the most, took anti-depressants to cope, and since his White House days, has on occasion talked about Bill’s “purple” fits, and “funks” or depressions.  One could make a case that Bill Clinton suffers from bi-polar disorder.  Thursday night Britt Hume, speaking to the Fox All Stars commented that Bill Clinton does not look well, he looks like something is wrong, mentally or physically.  Bill may in fact have some mental or physical disorder, but what is wrong is that the primary is going against him, and in a big way.  Bill Clinton did not expect he would be faced with a candidate like Obama, one that garners the same kinds of feelings from voters that he Bill evoked in the past.   Now Bill finds himself in the white man, white hair, white shirt crowd and he doesn’t like it.  In short, Bill is having his mid-life crisis a little late. 

 

Bill is running for re-election of himself, not for Hillary.  He is seeking vindication for his Impeachment, and another four years in the White House.  If Hillary is elected, Bill will take credit and assume co-President icy, even though Political Night Train believes Hillary will not allow him to stay in the White House.

Black Americans, Keep Dreaming – Hillary Wants To Be Yo’ White Nanny

Hillary’s race card argument is that it was not enough for the civil rights leaders to suffer and endure for their dream, but that they did’t have the wherewithal to act upon those dreams and make change happen.  By extension, Obama too can only dream and hope, he can’t act and effect change.  Hillary repeated this message earlier by saying that Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and LBJ “gave” black Americans the right to vote, the right to equal housing, the right to equal access.  The operative word is “gave”, as if black Americans were told to go to the back door and a white leader would “give” them a meal.  Hillary said they, meaning Presidents, got “big” things done because they knew that it was not just about the dream, it was about the results, and that’s what we have to do again.  What Hillary is saying here is it’s okay for you poor black Americans to dream, but when it comes to getting it done, you need me, your white nanny to do the heavy lifting for you.  That’s my burden and I’m here for you.

Oprah Drops To 2nd Place In Ratings – Because She Backed Obama???

It appears that Oprah’s backing of Obama may have backfired.  Oprah’s largely female, white audience doesn’t seem to appreciate that she back a man over a woman, and a black man at that.  Subtle racism in the Oprah empire???

Yesterday, Harris Interactive released its annual poll rating the most popular television stars. For the first time in five years, Oprah Winfrey was bumped from first place with Ellen DeGeneres beating her out. According to Fox, this is proof that Oprah shouldn’t have endorsed or campaigned for Barack Obama and that she was “hurt by it,” which Fox surmised would happen. Fox’s “business news” guy, Neil Cavuto devoted a segment to pushing this theory today (January 15, 2008) — “Oprah Drops to #2 in Poll; Is Backing Obama the Reason?”

How Hillary Clinton Defines “Leadership”

Political Night Train has found an excellent definition of “Leadership” as defined by Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Throws ‘Choice’ Stones at Obama

 

By Tommy Christopher
Jan 15th 2008 6:30PM Filed Under:eHillary Clinton, Democrats, Barack Obama, AbortionAs I was working on another story yesterday, I stumbled across a Clinton press briefing. More on that later. The conference call was being run by senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis, and was intended to highlight Hillary’s record on choice, and to contrast it with Barack Obama’s “present” votes. It was clear to me that I wasn’t going to get a comment for the story I was working on, so I was about to bail.

I didn’t even take notes on most of it, but apparently, Max Fullmer over at Huffington Post did. Key quote for me:Obama, said senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis, had voted “present” 129 times on a variety of bills, including those that she said would have protected the privacy of victims of sexual abuse, and strengthened state adoption laws.“Presidents don’t get to vote present,” said senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis.After the jump, I’ll give you way TMI about the conference call, and I’ll explain how the Clinton campaign convinced me to endorse Mrs. Emma Peel for President

I was looking for a quote about Bob Johnson’s lame explanation of his anti-Obama remarks, and after calling both campaigns all day, I got an e-mail from the Clinton camp about a press briefing. Now, I knew what it was going to be about, but it was my first, and probably last, one. I figured it would be just like a regular press conference, where you just ask whatever question you want and they try to keep you on-message.

I dialed in, and the thing says, “Press 1 if you have a question.” So I do, and the automated voice says, “Your hand is raised.” Sucker, I thought, it totally isn’t!

So, as I’m waiting my turn, it becomes clear to me that if I ask about Bob Johnson, I’m just going to get hung up on. Everybody is staying completely on-message, even the reporters. So, I figure I should bail and try to get ahold of Obama’s camp one last time. But, see, as I was listening, it started to irk me the way Ann Lewis was bragging about Hillary’s “leadership” on choice. So, I figure, my hand’s already “raised”, lemme get a lick in.

So, when my turn came, I said, “I hear you bragging a lot about Hillary’s ‘leadership’ on choice, and I would like to know where that leadership was when it was time to filibuster the Alito and Roberts nominations.”

To me, a perfectly sensible question. What good is passing a bunch of choice laws if you won’t oppose the guys who want to eliminate Roe v. Wade?

She told me I was a little off-topic. What. Ever. Then, she told me they didn’t have the votes. I asked if I could have a quick follow-up question. You’d have thought I said, “Would you please pass the jelly?”

After reminding me again how little Supreme Court Justices have to do with choice issuees, she relented.

“So, let me clarify,” I said, “you’re saying that the definition of leadership is to only lead when everyone already agrees with you?”

Pretty much. She said you have to weigh whether your unsuccessful opposition will hurt your cause and diminish your political power. I don’t get that logic. Whose votes is that going to lose you? And how does giving these guys a pass hurt less than opposing them? If anybody had cover to do it, it was her.

So, based on this new definition of leadership, I give you my new candidate for President, Mrs. Emma Peel. She couldn’t get the votes to filibuster Alito or Roberts, either. She has led several successful filibusters against my living room rug, so she has a record to run on.

Look, I understand to a degree the tough spot the Democrats were in for a long time, and the need to be a little careful when you’re running for president. But then, don’t brag about it.

DERRICK Z. JACKSON: Hillary and the race card – Another Must Read!!!

Political Night Train believes this is another in a series of must read articles about why Hillary Clinton is playing the race card and what it really should mean to every voter.

DERRICK Z. JACKSON

Hillary and the race card

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist  |  January 15, 2008

HILLARY CLINTON’S surrogates constantly remind us of Barack Obama’s youthful cocaine use (which Obama himself wrote about to emphasize the power of redemption). Former President Bill Clinton said of Obama’s Iraq war opposition, “Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.”

It is time to take a break to remember the fairy tales spun by the House of Clinton.

It increasingly appears that Hillary is unable or unwilling to break from the racial patronization of Bill. In 1993, in the same Memphis church that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from 25 years earlier, I noted that Clinton spoke as “if African-Americans had full run of the promised land in the last 25 years.”

Clinton told the church, “We gave people the freedom to succeed.” Clinton said King would have said, “You did a good job . . . letting people . . . live wherever they want to live, go wherever they want to go . . . without regard to race, if you work hard and play by the rules.”

I wrote back then that in the broad context of the nation, no one “let” us do anything or “gave” us anything. Yes, African-Americans made progress and many white Americans aided in that progress, but it still came in the face of continued, documented redlining, workplace discrimination, and the decline of funding of public schools.

Bill Clinton hugely betrayed that progress by doing nothing as Draconian, and ultimately racist federal sentencing laws took full effect, punishing crack possession far more harshly than powdered-cocaine possession. Even though Americans use illegal drugs close to their racial percentage of the population, young black men made up the vast majority of those sentenced under crack laws. According to the Justice Policy Institute, the rate of black male imprisonment under Clinton grew from 2,800 per 100,000 to 3,620 per 100,000. As a result, 14 percent of black men lost the right to vote.

What was it that Bill Clinton said about “we gave people the freedom to succeed?”

Now, it appears that the House of Clinton, seeing that the race for the Democratic nomination is not an adoring coronation, is trickling with tricks that raise questions about how much she will toy with the race card and overplay the gender card. Her aides tried to peddle a kindergarten “essay” by Obama to mock his ambition to be president. She had to fire two volunteers in Iowa for peddling hoax e-mails about Obama being Muslim.

New Hampshire co-chairman Bill Shaheen had to resign for wondering aloud if Obama’s self-revealing cocaine use made him unelectable. Even after Shaheen’s departure, Clinton strategist Mark Penn claimed with crocodile words, “The issue related to cocaine use is not something that the campaign was in any way raising.”

This weekend, a prominent black surrogate did Shaheen’s dirty work. Robert Johnson, the shameless founder of Black Entertainment Network, the man who became a billionaire off grotesque, booty-shaking, thug-glorifying music videos, boasted at a Clinton rally in South Carolina how the House of Clinton is so “deeply and emotionally involved in black issues.” He said they were involved while “Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood – and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book.”

Obama has not been without fault in the patronization game. He made a dumb move in the New Hampshire debates by telling Clinton, “you’re likable enough” when Clinton was answering a question about her likability quotient. But this pales next to the steady drip, drip, drip of stereotyping from the Clinton camp of a lazy, drug-using, Muslim black man who believes in fairy tales. It also pales to the gender-card whining of Bill on Hillary’s behalf, saying in the 11th hour in New Hampshire, “I can’t make her younger, taller, male.” You have not yet heard Obama surrogates moaning they can’t make Obama older or female.

Hillary Clinton herself fanned the fumes of patronization when she reached clumsily for an analogy that appeared to link Obama and King to simplistic hopers and dreamers, while it took a white man, President Johnson, to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Up to now, the Democratic race has been a victorious story of Americans saying they found it hard to choose between Obama, Clinton, and John Edwards, with issues and personality mattering more than gender or race. Let us hope the candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton, remember that, before they divide the Democrats into a bitter, weakened bunch for November.

Derrick Z. Jackson’s e-mail address is jackson@globe.com. 

Alissa Griffith Speaks Out On Hillary’s Comments About Dr. King – MUST READ!

Political Night Train believes the following article is one of the most revealing about Hillary Clinton so far.  This is a must read for anyone who cares about this campaign.

Maybe It’s Just Me: Hillary Clinton doesn’t care about black America

Published Wednesday, January 16, 2008.

Alissa Griffith / Columnist / ag180505@ohiou.edu

Remember “yo mama” jokes? You would say something to rude about someone, and they would reply, “yo mama.” Then of course, a fight would ensue because no one talks about your mother. Now imagine if 12 percent of the country agreed with you and the person saying “yo mama” was actually Hillary Clinton, and “yo mama” was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Maybe that will explain the major verbal blunder committed by presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton this week.

It is an unspoken but always observed rule among black people in this country: No one should ever say anything that can be interpreted as something negative against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ever. And Clinton’s latest blunder has raised more than eyebrows around the country.

Even people my age (who only know MLK through stories, museums, books and the day off from school) know that to say anything diminishing his accomplishments would be the wrong thing to say.

I almost, almost feel bad for Hillary. I mean, it’s politics. Hopefuls say all sorts of things, and it gets no media attention. Why should she be criticized for minimizing Martin Luther King Jr.’s accomplishments as an example while trying to explain why she would be the best choice for the Democratic nomination? Why shouldn’t she be allowed to think that black people owe former President Lyndon Johnson for the freedoms that they enjoy today? Why shouldn’t she think that things like water hoses sprayed on peaceful protestors, dogs biting at children, people walking to work for a year and sit-ins resulting in arrests pale in comparison to politicians in Washington? I mean, Lyndon Johnson could have written a letter from the Birmingham jail. Right? Couldn’t he have endured his house being bombed? He could live with the knowledge every day that his father was no longer around because he was lynched for being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right? Black people would still be sitting at segregated lunch counters if Lyndon Johnson had not so graciously felt sorry for them and in good conscience decided that they should be allowed to integrate like normal citizens. Right, Hillary? Wrong. Lyndon Johnson may have signed the act into law, but the literal blood, sweat and tears of Martin Luther King Jr., other civil rights workers and countless nameless faceless people are what caused MLK’s dream to be realized.

Moreover, the comment would have been largely ignored by the media if not for the fact that the Clinton clan has always pushed itself off as the hope for Black America, the ultimate advocate in Washington and the first “black” president. Kind of scary to think that the very people who claim to represent black people would call the prospect of America electing a black president a “fairy tale” and commit the cardinal sin of insulting MLK Jr.’s accomplishments. Although Hillary accused her opponent of distorting her quote, “Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done,” is pretty clear to me. Speaking of famous quotes, ironically, MLK Jr. once said, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Too bad the hope for black America doesn’t agree.

Then again, maybe the “we love black people” charade is finally over, and black people in this country can wake up. The Clintons don’t care about black people; they care about poor black people. It’s the soft bigotry of low expectations. They care about those who pose no threat to their dynasty.

Hillary’s careless comment leaves room to wonder what in the world she believes. I say, give her a mic more often and perhaps she will finally shock blinders off of eyes. But maybe it’s just me.

Alissa Griffith is a junior journalism major. Send her an e-mail at ag180505@ohiou.edu.

Bill Clinton Continues To Play the Race and Class Cards

 Political Night Train has reviewed  Bill Clinton’s recent comments in Nevada where he compared Obama with Hillary and we found the impeached former President is still using the race card, and now he injects the class card.  Here’s our analysis of Clinton’s words, and note how he tries to be clever and inject just the right, parsed code words to get his message across.  It seems Bill’s up to his old finger pointing tricks again . . . .The former president trumpeted New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s accomplishments while painting Obama as the “establishment” candidate who would bring only the “feeling of change.”Note the emphasis on “establishment” as if Obama is part of the old “White Eastern Establishment” of politicians, code words for anyone who wants to refer to white racist politicians.  Bill adds that Obama will bring the “feeling of change” not real change.  Careful examination of the positions of both Hillary and Obama, on social, economic and domestic issues shows they are not very far apart, both are still pushing 70’s, 80’s and even some 60’s policies.  Not much change there.“One candidate says you should vote for me because I’ve not been involved at all in the struggles of the past and therefore we need to turn over a new leaf and (try) something absolutely new. And if you want the feeling of change, then that is the person you should support,” Clinton said in a 75-minute speech to about 300 people in a YMCA gymnasium.Bill refers to Obama not being part of past struggles, which suggest, in a subtle way that Obama has no connections to the struggles of the civil rights era.  This is an ever so subtle way of playing the race card.“The other candidate says vote for me because I spent a lifetime making change, raising hopes and fulfilling dreams for other people,” he said about the former first lady.Now Bill makes a case for Hillary being a part of the changes that support Martin Luther King’s “Dream”, that some how SHE fulfilled his dream.  Again the race card.“In this case the establishment organization is with him and the insurgents are with her,” Clinton said in his speech. He then asked for a show of hands from about 50 precinct captains in the audience and challenged them to stand up to the union’s leadership.Again Bill ties Obama to the “White Eastern Establishment” and Hillary to the leaders of the civil rights movement.  Again the race and class cards are played.“They think they’re better than you are at identifying and physically getting people to their caucus sites. And I bet they’re wrong,” he said to cheers.“They think they are better than you”, again, playing the race and class cards.Among the Democratic candidates remaining, Sen. Clinton is the only one “with a record of consistently passing important bills with the support of Republicans,” Bill Clinton said.“Hillary has an enormous amount of African American support and Barack Obama has a lot of white people for him,” he said in Sparks.There Bill  goes again, playing the race card.“There’s still some African Americans who support Barack, even though they like Hillary, because they think he is the first African American to have a chance to be president,” Clinton said. “And there’s a lot of women who are voting for Hillary, even though they like Sen. Obama, because they think it would be better if a woman broke the glass ceiling.”“There’s still some African American who support Barack . . .”, spoken by Bill Clinton as if Obama has no black supporters, only white eastern establishment types.  Again the race card being played. 

Bill Clinton & Barack Obama, Is Neither One Black Enough?

Political Night Train has been charting a number of the state democratic polls and thinks it sees a very interesting trend.  As the number of times Hillary Clinton and her campaign have gone negative on Obama has increased, Obama’s poll numbers have gone up and Hillary’s have gone down.  This was true in Iowa, and to some extent in New Hampshire, at least until Hillary stopped the negatives and started touting her own record.  Now, in South Carolina, the same trend line is repeating, as Hillary goes negative, Obama’s polling numbers go up.  This is also being reflected in the national polls, where Obama was running flat against Hillary.  Now Obama is headed up and Hillary is headed down.

 

Political Night Train believes these polling results are being reflected with the younger voters, especially among the younger, better educated black women, those under 45 with more than a high school education.  This is a growing segment of the black population in general and has both economic, and now political clout. 

 

Political Night Train believes the Clintons have made what may later turn out to be their fatal error of the campaign, going negative on Obama in what is now being perceived as racist.  White Hillary supporters may begin to disengage her campaign, least they be branded racists along with Bill, Hillary and their other supporters.  Except for the over 65 white women who don’t necessarily like Hillary, they just like Bill more.

 

As it is turning out, for some, and these will be different groups, neither Bill Clinton nor Obama is black enough for them.

Hillary’s Man-Haters Club vs. Obama’s Good Ol’ Boys Club

Here are some observations and comments from Political Night Train

Hillary will continue to lose the male vote.

 

NH has a large white, older female population – just the type to support HRC.

 

Florida also has a large, white, older female population – they could make the difference there.

 

SC – HRC’s man-hater vibe may work against her there; but the state population has changed in recent years and is now has more older, white, Yankee females – they might provide the swing.  Many black women in SC are still conflicted – Obama vs. Hillary.  HRC & Bill (who they love, because he gave them what they did not get at home, namely respect) are known economic providers.  Obama’s appeal to SC black women will have to come through the local churches that are the social center for SC black women.  So goes the church, so goes the women.  Younger, better educated black women will want to be a part of history and will go with Obama.  SC will be a good predictor of Florida and California.

 

Will anyone pick up on, and use the “man-hater” nature of HRC and her court, namely Ann Lewis, Doyle, et. al.?

 

Tears on demand?  Was this playing the gender card?  Yes!

 

Man-Haters Club vs. Good Ol’ Boys Club.  Will it play in SC?

Patti Solis Doyle & Mark Penn Out; Maggie Williams & Roy Spense In???

As the  Clinton team bunkered themselves in hotel rooms in NH, Hillary, Chelsea and Huma Abedin covered the campaign scene.  Huma was at Hillary side 24/7 to provide for every need.Many of the campaign seniors, such as Ann Lewis  have gone directly to Hillary  to complain about the campaign is being organized and run and to beg for changes.  This is very unusual as everyone on Hillary’s staff is terrified of pissing off her royal highness.  Even Huma isn’t spared the venom and sharp tongue.A few staffers, speaking off the record have indicated a shakeup is coming, with the decisions to be made Wednesday and Thursday evening and announced over the weekend, when there is less press coverage.  Don’t expect any staff to get the boot, just another layer of campaign management to fix what is broken.  Bill has wanted to fire most of the senior staff enmasse, but he too won’t piss off Hillary.Terry McAuliffe, the campaign chairman, said publicly and repeatedly on Tuesday that new additions would be made to the staff. “We’ll bring in more people to help us,” McAuliffe said buoyantly on MSNBC mid-afternoon.  Clinton is expected to return to her home in Chappaqua to make the decisions.On Fox News, Ann Lewis stated Hillary’s campaign would be adding staff at “all levels”, meaning the senior most levels, those that have direct access to Hillary.  Bill Clinton has admitted to the same.  The problem, how to announce the changes without them sounding like a shake up.  PNT anticipates a weekend announcement of “additions” to the campaign staff that have been planned for months.  Look for a co-this and a co-that.  The problem for Hillary is that her senior staff is full of friends of Hillary and they will be tough to boot out.  However, another loss, like in South Carolina and she will have to make permanent changes.  As the new staff, all friends of Bill come in, they will want to replace the downstream staff as well.  Look out for the ripple effect.  Look for Maggie Williams to take over co-campaign manager duties with Patti Solis Doyle (will report on cat fight later).  Doyle is unlikely to get the boot as she has been loyal to Hillary since the early 90’s.  However, do look for Williams to give the press more and freer access to Hillary.  Look for Doyle to be sent out to various states as an advance person, with little or nothing to do.  FOB Roy Spence is being added to senior staff, probably to independently second guess Mark Penn.  He’s already been interpreting polls for Bill. 

What Obama Must Do To Win the General Election

Political Night Train believes that we, as a nation are on the cusp of what could be the most remarkable political event in well over a century – elevating a non-white man to the Presidency.  A man that can potentially gain the same, or even greater support as a Ronald Regan.  Barack Obama has that potential, to pull together a wide range of citizen groups that transcend race, gender, age, socio-economics, and religion.  The potential non-supporters include the usual fringe groups, the far left, the truly racist (both black and white), and the uber-conservatives.  To do so, Obama must shuck some critical baggage.  First, Obama must distance himself from his long-time relationship with militant, racist black-issues only church leaders.  He can do this by giving a semi-JFK religion speech.  Obama could say he is a long-standing member of a church that has provided himself and his family with the faith, salvation, belief in God, and family values that have strengthened him and his family through the good and the bad.  Go on to say that he does not agree, nor support the secular viewpoints of the church leadership. Second, Obama must clearly separate himself from the views of the far left by saying their views are not his views, their positions are not his positions, their values are not his values.  Then he needs to speak out and denounce such blogs as moveon.org.   Third, Obama must distance himself from the Jesse Jackson’s of the world by honoring those civil rights leaders who are true bearers of MLK’s non-racist vision.

Is This The Beginning of the End for Hillary Clinton???

 A remarkable thing happened at the Iowa Caucuses, and Political Night Train believes it is the beginning of the end for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Dream.   Hillary Clinton went to Iowa claiming to be the front runner and with a campaign that was designed as if she were the Democratic candidate in a national election.  One could say, “How stupid, Hillary?”.  But it goes deeper than that.  It goes to the core of how the Democratic voters view the world, themselves and who they support for national office.  It is nothing less than a shift in how, and who the Democratic Party picks it’s Presidential candidate, and the old guard, represented by Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Ann Lewis, and Mark Penn are being pushed aside.  They won’t go willingly, and will fight the good fight, but in the end they will lose.  In the process, they just might lose the 2008 Presidential election.  Here’s what Political Night Train sees as what went wrong. Hillary seemingly had everything, name recognition, Bill Clinton, a strong campaign organization, mainstream media on her side, money, famous people to trot out for support, the issues, everything.  What Hillary lacked, namely personality, experience, willingness to campaign, adoring fans, star status, Bill seemed to have in abundance.  In the end, what they both have is a dysfunctional marriage,  aging staffs  of “yes-men and yes-women”, and a penchant for looking to the past for everything they needed.  What they both lack are core values that voters can depend on day-in and day-out, values that don’t disappear with the next set of Mark Penn polling data.  Coupled with this is the fact that Hillary comes across to many voters, and apparently 70% of the Democrats as stubborn, secretive, shrill, angry, vindictive and petty.  Largely unreported is that in Iowa, 70% of the Democratic caucus goers wanted, and voted for someone other than Hillary.  Where was the “We want Bill” factor?  Apparently 70% of Iowa Democrats don’t want Bill Clinton back in the White House (hint: if elected, Hillary has no intention on letting Bill back in the White House).  It seems that all those folks wishing for Bill’s return to the White House didn’t show up at the caucus. Hillary, and her campaign are basically out of touch with large numbers of Democrats.  Hillary has surrounded herself with a cadre of women who reflect a “Golden Girls” mentality.  As Maureen Dowd says, “Hillary sees herself as owed”.  Dowd goes on to ask, “Has Hillary truly changed, and grown from her mistakes? Has she learned to be less stubborn and imperious and secretive and vindictive and entitled? Or has she merely learned to mask her off-putting and self-sabotaging qualities better?  If elected, would the old Hillary pop up, dragging us back to the dysfunctional Clinton kingdom?  She is speaking in a soft, measured voice in these final days, so that, as with Daisy Buchanan, you have to lean in to listen.  But is she really different than she was in the years when she was so careless about the people around her getting hurt by the Clinton legal whirlwind that she was dubbed the Daisy Buchanan of the boomer set?   The underlying rationale for her campaign is that she is owed.  Owed for moving to Arkansas and giving up the name Rodham, (readers are reminded that as First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary initially wanted to be called Ms. Rodham, thus offending many in the state) owed for pretending to care about place settings and menus when she held the unappetizing title of first lady, (when Bill’s ‘Two for the price of one’ comment was rejected by voters, Hillary declared, ‘I might as well have stayed home and baked cookies, thus insulting all the stay-at-home moms) owed for enduring one humiliation after another at the hands of her husband (who really wants Bill trolling around the White House again, certainly not Hillary).”Some are reporting the imminent demise of the Hillary Clinton campaign, saying major donors are running scared, hedging their bets, and not returning phone calls.  Typical of Bill Clinton, he’s gone into one of his famous self-pitying “funks”.  The sooner the wheels come off, the better for all.  Hillary can go back to her Senate duties and continue to get re-elected by New Yorkers, and grow old in the job, like Ted Kennedy.  Bill, scorned by the public’s rejection of his attempt to get re-elected via Hillary, and forever branded as Impeached, can go back to doing whatever he was doing before.  With a failed bid for President, will Hillary have any use for Bill? Part of the Mark Penn-Hillary Clinton contrived strategy was to get a compressed primary schedule.  Their thinking was that with a “national” candidate, Hillary would benefit from a win in Iowa, followed by a quick dash through New Hampshire, SC, Michigan, Nevada, and capping it off with a win in Florida.  Then the unintended consequences.  The states fought over who would be first, second, etc.  The DNC, smelling a stink, punted.  Penn and Clinton triangulated, and the result was a promise of no campaigning in Michigan and Florida, with subsequent loss of those state’s delegates.  Now that strategy looks flawed. Then there is the flawed strategy of running Hillary as a national candidate, in effect, dissing all the other Democratic candidates.  Penn and Clinton were so sure everyone wanted both Clintons back that they focused only on that aspect.  This in effect dissed the primary voters.  And while Obama was stumping on his vision of change and the future, Penn and the Clintons focused on the past.  Specifically, Bill’s past.  With no record of her own (at lease none that she was willing to reveal through release of her and Bill’s papers) she ran on Bill’s record.  And Bill ran on Bill’s record, as if he was seeking a 3^rd term.  Political Night Train is surprised everyone is avoiding comparing Hillary to Gore, re-inventing herself at every turn.  She has promoted herself as:  a leader, with no record of leadership accomplishments; as the front runner and owed the election; as tough as a man; as soft as a woman; a woman trying to get membership in an exclusive men’s club; a girl; experienced (the comparison is to having season tickets to the Redskins, missing a few home games, not being allowed in the locker room/aka NSC meetings, but still claiming the view qualified you to replace Coach Gibbs); a victim, being picked on by the bad boys; a mother, by trotting Chelsea out.  And who does Hillary have standing off to the side, the Golden Girls, Madeline Albright, Donna Shalala, and Ann Lewis.  In campaign stops, Hillary talks about not her accomplishments, but about Bill’s as though she is living her political life vicariously through him.  Bill just keeps talking about Bill. What can Hillary do now?  Not much.  A month ago she could have attacked Edwards rather than Obama, pulled off some of Edwards support for herself and finished 2^nd rather than 3^rd.  What will she do?  More of the same.  Attack Obama, the media, the voters.

Hillary Clinton A Bust In Iowa!!!!

As Political Night Train predicted, Hillary Clinton finishes 3rd in Iowa.

Hillary’s Lack of Foreign Policy Experience Results in Major Goof

 Hillary Clinton wants to be President and says her time as First Lady provides the necessary experience.  Well, when you make major goofs like below, it just shows how little foreign policy experience she has.  And as for “risking her life” to travel overseas for Bill Clinton, as she stated this past week . . . well, also on that trip to Bosnia was 15-year old Chelsea (would Bill put his daughter at risk?  Not likely), Sinbad (yes, the baggy pant comedy channel guy), and other Hollywood types.  Give us a break Hillary, the public is not a bunch of idiots, as you suspect.

Clinton errs on Pakistan Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was praised in the wake of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for demonstrating her command of the players and the issues at stake in Pakistan, even as another candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, was criticized for stumbling over details.But in two confident television appearances, on CNN and ABC, Clinton made an elementary error about Pakistani politics: She described President Pervez Musharraf as a “candidate” who would be “on the ballot.”In fact, Musharraf was reelected to the presidency in October. The upcoming elections are for parliament, and while Musharraf’s party will be facing off against opposition parties, the president himself is not a candidate.“He will NOT be on the ballot,” said a Pakistan scholar at Columbia University, Philip Oldenburg, in an e-mail. “These are parliamentary elections, where the contests are for a seat in the national assembly.
The prime ministerial candidate typically fights for victory in a local constituency, as well as lead[ing] the party in a national campaign.”A spokesman for Clinton, Howard Wolfson, said Clinton was referring to Musharraf’s party, not the president himself.And Oldenburg said that “how well the PML-Q, the so-called ‘King’s Party,’ does would in effect be a referendum on Musharraf.”But Clinton’s words appear unambiguously to describe Musharraf himself as a candidate.“If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election, then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (.pdf) Dec. 28.“He could be the only person on the ballot. I don’t think that’s a real election,” she told ABC’s George Stephanopolous December 30.Her error was first noted by a conservative American commentator, Thomas Houlahan.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0108/Clinton_errs_on_Pakistan_.html

 

Who Is Suppressing The Huma Abedin Stories????

For weeks now, there has been no media coverage of Hillary’s rumored squeeze, Huma Abedin.  Who is suppressing those stories?  Larry Flynt, do you have a story???