Prometheus 6

P6 - Did you check out that mealy-mouth response from Lisa Caputo when Matthews asked her if the responses from the voters who openly declared their racial antipathy toward Obama reflected a deeper and more pervasive level of racially-based animosity toward him?

McCain may be dangerous but what Hillary Clinton has deliberately set loose and played into is far, far worse. We will survive but she is as dangerous as McCain.  

I thought it was even better when he asked if Hillary has spoken out against racism recently.

"...if Hillary has spoken out against racism recently."

I think she has been too busy fighting for the interests of "hard working Americans, white Americans" to concern herself with trivial issues like racism.  

I'm sort of enjoying the fact that the MSM and soooo many others do not understand how Obama and his campaign are creating a new Democratic coalition that does not depend on winning the support of voters in places like Kentucky and West Virginia. White Democratic presidential candidates have not won a majority of white votes since 1964 so why would anybody expect Obama to change that trend and why is his credibility as a candidate being tied to something that Democrats have not pulled off in 40 years?

CNN must have wiretapped MSNBC because the Gergen panel followed suit and insisted that HRC should come out and speak against the racist vote; to clear Sen. Obama's name and vouch for their Capitol Hill relationship and for his values.

I'm sort of enjoying the fact that the MSM and soooo many others do not understand how Obama and his campaign are creating a new Democratic coalition that does not depend on winning the support of voters in places like Kentucky and West Virginia.

Per Paul Begala, they know, and want no part of it. 

I laugh every time I see that clip. Paul should know better than to even bother with Donna. She knows the tactics, code words, strategies and talking points; she's been in the back rooms right along with him.

"Per Paul Begala, they know, and want no part of it."

I don't think they understand the political necessity of why it needs to be done. Begala and his ilk are only concerned about winning elections and scooping up and playing to the fears and prejudices of whatever groups will make it possible for them to win. I stand by my position that the MSM is clueless although there might be a few people like Matthews and Olberman who see the deep game here.

I think Obama and his folks understand that the old Democratic Party coalition is completely exhausted and, worse, is not reliable. Hankering after votes from the Appalachian corridor yokes the candidate and the campaign, for example, to a series or set of policy prescriptions and promises that cannot be delivered by any Democratic Administration. There is no way that the heavy industries that once dominated the so-called rust belt will ever be restored. Those jobs are never, ever coming back.   

the Jim Webb for VP audition?

GERGEN: And from her point of view, over a quarter of the people who voted for her today in Kentucky were people who said race was a factor in their decision. And it really means -- I mean, she's been talking about sexism in this race and she has complained about some in the last 24 hours.

You know race is really playing an increasing issue. And it also raises the question in my judgment of whether she shouldn't say, you know, if you want to vote against him because he's black, I don't want your vote. I don't want to win that way. This has no place in this primary....

...I see no reason why she couldn't take the high road here in the closing days of his campaign and try to take this on and take on the Reverend Wright issue to say, "Look, I campaigned with this fellow for 15 months. I know a lot of you people don't think he shares your values that somehow Barack thinks like Reverend Wright. Not true. I know him. I have been with him. And race should come out of this."

I think she could do a lot by taking a high road...."

Webb can talk about his "cultural" group all he wants but somebody has to tell the truth.  Contrary to what Webb said, it's not the idea that affirmative action extended from being justifiable for African Americans then flowed to every other group besides the "out of sight, out of mind" poor Whites... it's the undisputable fact that the White resentment Barack Obama talked about has been and is and was always Black laced.  It's the fact that they don't (mis)direct their angst towards anyone else but African-Americans.

None of that explains the documented stories of his folks saying, "I won't vote for a Black man" and everything else that's been said and implied about affirmative action (where they see ALL black) or immigrantion (where they see ALL brown).

Women, White and Black, both fought for suffrage separate and together and yet, racism was present even those cases.  But what is the history of these Scott-Irish folks?  Where were they during the great social movements of this country?  Whose side were they on?  Who did they side with?

Will they follow your lead, brother Webb?  Better question:  Do they even want solidarity?  Or is it just that they feel like, by virtue of their Whiteness, that they should get before and more than any non-Whites. 

Rik

Check what Ta-Nehisi Coates has said about Webb. 

http://www.ta-nehisi.com/2008/05/jim-webb-endorsed-by-ta-nehisi-like-it-matters.html 

http://www.ta-nehisi.com/2008/05/strange-bedfellows-blacks-and-applachian-whites.html   

I agree with your point that Obama should make a tour of appalachia.  In 1964 LBJ campaigned in the South on the message that the Civil Rights Act was good for the region.  Everyone knew that he wouldn't convince most southern whites to vote for him, but his efforts did send a message to the rest of the country that legal Jim Crow was nearing distinction.   

I thought that Jim Webb would be a good choice for Obama many months ago and I haven't changed my mind. My reasons, however, have nothing to do with all of this Appalachia hooey (and it is hooey) and everything to do with Webb's opposition to the American War in Iraq, his military credentials and his willingness to speak out against the policies of the Bush Administration. I thought then and now that Webb could pull in those voters who are more concerned about national security matters and help to balance out Obama's lack of military service (which I don't consider a deficit). 

While I can appreciate Webb's desire to try to form a coalition between African Americans and Appalachian whites it should not blind us to the fact that folks in Appalachia have not been ignored. I am old enough to remember when the Appalachia region and its people were put on the national agenda during the JFK's New Frontier and LBJ's Great Society programs. Robert Kennedy, for example, toured Appalachia during his brief tragic run for the presidency and the problems of the area were well publicized at that time.

African Americans have not been granted a competitive advantage over Appalachian whites in terms of securing goodies from the national treasury and attention from policy makers. The reality is that black folks have been organizing and working to secure their place at the table for a very long time and they have formed coalitions with others to leverage social benefits and influence public policy.

Appalachian whites, by and large, have followed a different path since at least 1968. They have voted for politicians at the local, state and national level who do not represent their interests and they continue to do so even today. Black folks can do business with them if necessary but at best they would only be allies of convenience and necessity. 

Being extremely familiar with the northern regions of the commonwealth, I’ve been observing Webb for a while, especially during the race with Allen:

http://www.prometheus6.org/node/20468

His wife, I think, is a very interesting woman in her own right also:

Hong Le Webb

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/7/6056/78952

More on Jim Webb's "cultural" group:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8J9laUNgL4

I thought that Jim Webb would be a good choice for Obama many months ago and I haven't changed my mind. My reasons, however, have nothing to do with all of this Appalachia hooey

I'm cool with Webb because of this:

The growth in the prison population is only nominally related to crime rates.  Just last week in the Washington Post, the deputy director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated that “the growth [in the incarceration rate] wasn’t really about increase[ed] crime but how we chose to respond to crime.” 

The steep increase in the number of people in prison is driven, according to most experts, by changes in drug policy and tougher sentencing, and not necessarily an increase in crime.  Also, the composition of prison admissions has shifted toward less serious offenses:  parole violations and drug offenses... 

The racial composition of America’s prisons is alarming.  Although African Americans constitute 14 percent of regular drug users, they are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses, and 56 percent of persons in state prisons for drug crimes.  African Americans serve nearly as much time in federal prisons for drug offenses as whites do for violent crimes... 

http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=284989  

PT

Fill me in on some things if you could.  Weren't Appalachian whites a group that Jesse Jackson tried to incorporate into his rainbow coalition during his runs in the 1980s?  Did he make any headway?  What do the results of his mobilizing efforts tell us about the prospects of reaching out to these voters?   

What do the results of his mobilizing efforts tell us about the prospects of reaching out to these voters?  

Interesting question.  JJ has constantly reached out and talked about Appalachia.  Apparently he tried to extend his Wallstreet project to include Appalachians also.  So, like you I suppose, I would have to question why they have problems with Obama when JJ has repeatedly tried to make inroads.  I would also have to pose your question to brother Webb who naively talks about these two oft forgotten groups, African-Americans and poor/Appalachian Whites, forging a formidable alliance in American politics. 

Their Whiteness means too much to them.  He knows that.

A Blast From The Past - Jesse Jackson's 2004 Appalachia Tour

I am not familiar with Jesse Jackson's outreach to the Appalachian region but I will post links to anything I find. 

Interview With Jesse Jackson on Appalachian Tour

This is an interesting interview because Jackson lays out his rationale for reaching out to residents of the region.