Letter From America
The end is near for Hillary Clinton
ADDRESSING a crowd in North Carolina two days ago, Hillary Clinton said that how North Carolinians voted could be a "game changer" in the Democratic Party nomination. It was -- for Barack Obama! In spite of Hillary's devastating attacks, his own "bitter" comment and the sudden reappearance of Rev. Wright at the most inopportune time, Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary by a whopping 15% margin (57.5 % to 42.5%) on May 6.
Although Hillary was projected to win Indiana, the other state holding primary on May 6, by a big margin, she barely squeaked by (51% to 49%). Obama's victory speech in Raleigh, North Carolina was more like a nomination acceptance speech. He was complimentary to Hillary but talked past her.
Obama addressed the nation about his vision for a unified America. His speech was full of patriotic fervour, and ended with "God bless the United States of America."
In her speech, a less complimentary Hillary promised to continue her campaign for the White House. She also vowed to fight for seating of the delegates from Florida and Michigan. Because Florida and Michigan had defied the party rules and brought their primaries forward, they were stripped of their delegates.
Both Obama and Hillary had agreed to the rules and did not campaign in the two states. Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan. The two states held their primaries anyway, and Clinton "won" both. Now she wants that the delegates from the two states should be hers!
The reality is: it's all over for Hillary. She is not going to catch Obama in pledged delegates, and now that Obama has won the last big state, North Carolina, an avalanche of undeclared super-delegates are going to head Obama's way, putting him on top, sooner rather than later. The Clintons threw everything they had at Obama, and still came up short. They will continue to pursue the nomination, but will not win it.
There is a reason why former president Bill Clinton is regarded as one of the best American politicians of the twentieth century. He knew that the only way to shoot down the high flying Barack Obama campaign was to play the race card. He caught a lot of flak for playing the race card after the South Carolina primary, when he equated Obama's victory there to that of the racially divisive black candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988. Three months later, Bill Clinton's strategy was vindicated.
Hillary Clinton's resurgence had coincided with the Clintons' success at labeling Obama as a black candidate. Sure, Rev. Wright and Obama's "bitter" comment hurt his campaign. But since Bill Clinton's masterstroke in South Carolina, working class whites had been steadily deserting Obama.
Given a choice between a black man and a white woman, working class whites preferred the white woman. The Clintons had turned the primary campaign into a contest between a black man versus a white woman, a white man and a white girl.
As Hillary concentrated on wooing white women, Bill became Hillary Clinton's campaign ambassador to rural America. Bill could be seen in every nook and corner of rural Indiana and North Carolina, addressing rural and working class white folks in his folksy voice and adjusting his southern drawl according to the location.
He addressed not from an elaborately decorated platform, but from undecorated porches of modest houses, telling his all-white audience, "the great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules." Translation: Obama, the "uppity N.," is an elitist! The writer was in Ashville, a small town in North Carolina, for three days last month. He failed to see a single Obama sign.
To neutralise or dampen Obama's tremenduous support among college students, white and black, Chelsea Clinton was quietly visiting almost every important college campus in the states holding primaries and caucasuses, addressing students and pleading for her mom. Talking of playing by a different set of rules, Clelsea twice chastised students for asking her about her dad's Monica Lewinsky affair. "It's none of your business!" she said. The media applauded.
The media did not dwell on the double standard they indulged in vis-à-vis Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton's four-times-on-camera lying about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia was hardly ever mentioned. Neither did they dwell on Rev. John Hagee, whose endorsement Senator John McCain actively sought and received, and who had called the Roman Catholic church "The Great Whore." Neither had they accused Hillary Clinton of pandering when she proposed the preposterous suspension of the gasoline tax for three months, a move that would not have brought the gas prices down because of increased demand, but would have resulted in the loss of highway repair funds and cost several thousand jobs. Instead, they praised this disingenous pandering as a brilliant election eve move. What they really meant was: "What a brilliant lie!"
When it came to Barack Obama though, things were different. His association with his pastor became a test for his fitness for office. His patriotism and Americanism was gauged by how quickly, completely and repetitively he denounced and disowned his controversial associates. A white candidate did not have to do that. She or he was held to a different standard.
At the end, none of these mattered. The wisdom of the American people prevailed. On May 6 they effectively handed the Democratic nomination to the better candidate, who just happened to be black.
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