Redstate

Posted at 1:12pm on May 8, 2008 Hillary: Vote for me! Whites hate Barry!

Both Dems are playing with race. This is not a good thing.

By Mark Kilmer

Only Hillary can beat John McCain this November, she tells us. Why? 'Cos the downscale white guys support her, while they hate Barry.

Says Hillary to USA Today:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. 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."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Hmmmmm. This could be considered race-baiting. It is not something one would associate with the usually careful – contrasted with her hubby – Hillary, so it seems to be a part of her ongoing scorched earth set of tactics to somehow pull the Dem nomination out of a hat.

Dr. Larry Sabato spins it for Hillary. Read On…

Posted in 2008 | Hillary | Obama | race — Comments (36)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:17pm on Mar. 19, 2008 Andrew Sullivan and the hard bigotry of expectations

The distorting effects of emotion based politics

By Kevin Holtsberry

Let's pretend for a moment that Andrew Sullivan cared about logic or reason or facts or anything but what makes him feel all tingly inside.

I know this is quite a counter-factual, but hang with me. If Andrew could get past his love affair with Barry he might just be able to comprehend that Barack Obama is a leftist. That he is a traditional big government liberal whose entire platform runs counter to the basic conception of conservatism.

Fancy rhetoric and a cool persona can't change that. Wanting to move past the ugliness of the Clinton years, while laudable, doesn't change that. Even attempting to run for president while not explicitly appealing to race doesn't change that on iota. As Ross Douthat, whose patience with Andrew and his own comment section is beyond my comprehension, has pointed out, Obama wants to move the country to the left.

Just because he wants to emulate Reagan's impact on his party and the country doesn't make him a conservative nor a Reaganite in any way shape or form. And saying so has absolutely nothing to do with race.

More on this below.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | blogs | race — Comments (33)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:58pm on Mar. 18, 2008 Why I want to believe Obama

and why it would be foolish to do so

By Kevin Holtsberry

I didn't watch Obama's speech live - I am focused on his opponent these days - but I have read the transcript. And I will confess that part of me really wants to believe that Obama is the candidate for our times. A part of me really wants to see him succeed.

It isn't white guilt, but rather a hope - there is that word again - that it might truly symbolize something in this country. And there are parts of his speech that are true and beautiful and worth saying. Clearly Obama is a talented and skillful speaker and politician.

But in the end I can't support Obama and believe his election would be wrong for America. Not because of some latent racism or hyper-partisanship. Not because his pastor spews hateful rhetoric or his wife's often bizarre statements.

No, I can't support Obama because behind his lofty rhetoric and obvious political skills is just another boring big government liberal who believes that compassion and justice flow through the federal government; that there is no problem that can't be solved with a government program.

For more read on.

Posted in 2008 | 2008 Democratic Primary | 2008 Presoidential Campaign | Barack Obama | race — Comments (73)/ Email this page » / Read More »