Sunday, April 3, 2016

Hillary Clinton's Calculated Courtship of the African American Vote

I'm going to add my voice to the growing list of voices urging black voters to throw their support behind Bernie Sanders.

The fact is, Hillary Clinton's relatively recent realization that she loves Barack Obama and everything he has stood for is just one more calculation in a lifetime of calculations, all with the goal of getting herself into the presidency.

She managed to get those sound bites out there in time to win a number of very important primaries by essentially winning all of the African American vote in those states.  In states where the black vote is not such a big factor, she has lost to Bernie Sanders by large margins.  But she is still way ahead in delegates, and everybody thinks she is a shoo-in for the nomination.

Remember, Hillary hated Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, and did everything she could to undermine him back then.  Since then, she has distanced herself from him when it suited her, and now that proclaiming her love for him suits her, she is doing that.

Back in 2008, Hillary would stop at nothing to prevent Obama from becoming President.  Here's something that almost certainly was spread by the Clinton campaign in a last-ditch effort to salvage her chances in 2008:


(I included the plug for the fake smart pill because it's in my other posts about the smart pill scam, e.g. http://pricefixer.blogspot.com/2015/09/neurocell-fake-cnn-report-scam.html).

Sanders, on the other hand, is honest.  He won't claim to agree with everything President Obama has done, because he doesn't agree with everything Obama has done.  To him, much of what Obama has done (and not done) has been a disappointment.  And he's honest enough to say that.

So here is a set of dichotomies between Hillary and Bernie that should persuade black voters that Bernie has their interests in mind a lot more than Hillary does:


  • Bernie is honest, Hillary isn't.
  • Bernie's campaign reminds us of Barack's 2008 campaign; Hillary's doesn't.
  • Hillary's campaign reminds us of Hillary's 20008 campaign; Bernie's doesn't.
  • Hillary's political life has involved one scandal after another; Bernie's hasn't
  • Bernie's campaign is funded by small donors, Hillary's isn't.
  • Hillary has taken tens of millions of dollars from banks; Bernie hasn't.
  • Hillary has taken tens of millions of dollars from other big corporations; Bernie hasn't.
  • Bernie is fighting for equality; Hillary isn't.
  • Hillary is running for the presidency because she is ambitious and egomaniacal; Bernie isn't.
  • Hillary's presidency would be rocked by scandal from the outset; Bernie's wouldn't.
  • Hillary is married to Bill Clinton; Bernie isn't.
  • Hillary's life has been one long string of calculations designed toward getting herself into the White House, Bernie's hasn't.
  • Hillary will face even more obstructionism from Republicans than Obama did.  Bernie will face obstructionism, but if his movement expands, he may be able to overcome it.  Hillary will NOT be able to overcome the obstruction any more than Obama did.
  • Bernie's campaign is electrifying, Hillary's isn't.
  • Hillary's history will give her Republican opponent plenty of ammunition for portraying her as unethical, Bernie's won't. 

The polls are now starting to show that Bernie has a better chance against Trump than Hillary does. The reason for that should be obvious -- it's the growing independent vote: thoughtful people who are disgusted with both parties, and the fact that many people out there just can't imagine ever voting for Hillary.  The polls also don't take into account the fact that elections can be won on the basis of negative campaigning, and the Republican Party's negative campaign against Hillary promises to be the easiest and most negative campaign ever.

Remember, Obama had all the black votes, but he also had very strong support among independent voters.  It's a given that the democratic candidate will win a lot of black votes.  If the Democrats want to beat Trump, they will need someone who will appeal to the independent voters. Hillary is not that someone.  In fact, a lot of dyed-in-the-wool Democrats can't stand her, and might just stay home.

All the reasons that Bernie would outperform Hillary against Trump also apply to Ted Cruz, if he manages to become the candidate.  Either way, the Democratic candidate will get the African American vote; the biggest question is which way the independents will go.  And candidates like the scandal-burdened politics-as-usual Hillary Clinton are the very reason that many independents are independents.

The Democrats' best chance this time around -- as it was with Obama in 2008 -- is to field a candidate that people can get excited about.  That's Bernie, not Hillary.

So if you're a black primary voter, you really need to think about this.  Even if you believe that Hillary is a good candidate and that Bernie is unrealistic, Hillary is not likely to win against Trump or Cruz.

Another way of looking at it:  If Bernie is the candidate, most Hillary supporters will support him over Trump or Cruz.  But if Hillary is the candidate, it's far from clear that the Bernie supporters are going to give their vote to Hillary.  It's a myth that "independent" voters are just a large mass of people in the middle, with Republicans on the right and Democrats on the left.  Independent voters are independent thinkers.  The fact that Bernie is honest is likely to influence them a lot more than the fact that he is a socialist.

You need to throw your support behind Bernie Sanders, and you need to do it quickly.  And tell all your friends.

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