05/07/2008
I have to admit that once in awhile National Review produces some good material. Jim Geraghty’s Campaign Spot blog chastises the pundit class for denouncing white working class voters as as racists solely because they didn’t vote for Barack Obama.
Among the highlights:
Are white working-class voters really racist? How many and where? If a significant number of them are, should Democrats really court them on the terms of their racism? These are questions worth asking since, apparently, a lot of Democrats think they're valid. But as long as the Clinton campaign continues to code the fact that it is counting on a base of white racist support, we'll never have this conversation.
[How Does Hillary Clinton Feel About the White Racist Vote?,by Richard Kim The Nation, May 5]
"With the largest number of remaining delegates now being party insiders, they have to decide if Obama can overcome enough of that antipathy — essentially deciding if enough working-class whites will back away from the black candidate, whether because of the false Muslim rumors, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright flap or old-fashioned racism.”
[ Ugly truth why Hillary Clinton won’t quit, by Thomas M. DeFrank New York Daily News, May 7].
"There may have been some element of racism among these culturally conservative voters, who support Democrats if they think the politician is strong and empathetic toward their struggles; Obama appeared neither."
[Obama’s Tired Campaign Needs Victory, New Life, by Al Hunt Bloomberg News, May 5.
Geraghty notes that that Mormons voted for Romney, Evangelicals vote for Huckabee, and of course Blacks vote uniformly for Obama so “complaining about voters preferring candidates who share traits with them is like complaining about the weather.” The implication seems to be that it’s OK for working class whites to do the same. He concludes,
African-Americans are voting overwhelmingly for a candidate who shares their skin color, but it’s being repeatedly suggested that white working-class voters are motivated by racism. Is this the "national conversation on race" that Obama had in mind in his Philly speech?[The Continuing Racial Polarization of the Electorate, by Jim Geraghty National Review Online, May 7]
This seems awful close to defending Ramesh Ponnuru’s dreaded “identity politics for white people.” If there is a silver lining to the Obama cloud, it is that conventional conservatives are becoming emboldened to take on anti-white racism and double standards.
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