“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
(Huffpost <\/a>has the video).<\/p>\n I don’t<\/em> think Clinton was implying that she should stay in the race in case Obama gets assassinated. I think she was saying that there’s nothing especially unusual about a democratic primary lasting until June, and it doesn’t prevent Democrats from winning the general election.<\/p>\n So it was a gaffe — an unusually tactless gaffe, one which Clinton has made more than once. (I’m sure Clinton supporters who said, after “bittergate,” that a bad gaffe shows a candidate is unready to be President will stick by that position this week.) But it wasn’t<\/em> Clinton hoping that Obama will be shot.<\/p>\n Ta-Nehsi agrees<\/a> that it was a gaffe, but adds:<\/p>\n This is why it’s foolish to compare racism and sexism<\/a>. Hillary and some [of] her blind-ass feminist supporters have asserted that there has been no racism in this campaign, or none when compared to racism. But Barack Obama had to get Secret Service protection before any candidate in history. I wonder if that has to do with racism. Part of this is our fault as we’ve allowed the definition of racism to devolve into the spectacular–the Rodney King tape or a Don Imus rant. <\/p>\n But the ugliest aspects are the things you don’t see, or don’t care to see. There is no American tradition of assassination in the feminist community. The sort of violence that consistently hung over Civil Rights workers, and ultimately got Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King, never hung over Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. Again I think Hillary simply made a mistake. But I also think were she from my side of the tracks, a place where the assassination of black public figures has altered whole lives, she wouldn’t have said something that stupid. Ditto for Steinem, who if she’d ever spent any significant time around black folks, would know that there are forces which are just as restricting as gender. I still don’t think Clinton realizes what she said–she apologized to the Kennedy’s, but not to Obama. The blindness is strong in that one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you’re like me, your back may have reflexively gone up at the comment about “some blind-ass feminist supporters,” but frankly he’s right, as long as you remember that he said “some,” not “all.”<\/p>\n On Shakesville, one of my favorite blogs, ((And a blog that has consistently posted anti-racist commentary about the election.)) a few of the writers have been arguing that Clinton has faced much more bigotry than Obama, but now things are evening out. For instance, in comments Kate <\/a>(who, I want to emphasize, I’m a total fanboy of) wrote:<\/p>\n …Now that everyone in the media has agreed Clinton has zero shot at the nomination, it’s safe to start running the anti-Obama crap they’ve been sitting on. They didn’t want to risk accidentally tanking him and letting the nom tip to her, but now that they’re sure he’s got it, they can let loose. (Never mind that he doesn’t actually have it yet.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n (And I didn’t even mention bowling<\/a>.)<\/p>\n With all due respect, Kate, racism against Obama hasn’t just suddenly popped up in the last week or two. Like misogyny against Clinton, it’s been going on all along.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n To be fair, I’ve occasionally seen Obama supporters claim that anti-Obama racism has been a bigger problem than anti-Clinton sexism — most famously when Reverend Wright said that Clinton has never been called “nigger,” to imply she hasn’t faced bigotry. (How often has Obama been called “cunt<\/a>“?) But, at least in what I’ve read, Clinton supporters have made this claim much more often — and unfortunately, Clinton herself<\/a> has made the same claim.<\/p>\n (See also — on the general topic, not at all directed at Kate — No More Mister Nice Blog’s “The fact that you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In comments, there’s been discussion of Clinton’s recent citing of Bobby Kennedy’s death. “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby … Continue reading 
<\/a>As I said at Shakesville, they haven’t<\/em> been sitting on anti-Obama crap. The hundreds of times Farrakhan has been mentioned in the media is racist anti-Obama crap<\/a>. The Wright story was<\/a> racist<\/a> anti-<\/a>Obama<\/a> crap<\/a>. The “but how would he do among WHITE voters” concern trolling — with its implication both that Appalachian voters<\/a> are all White voters, and the implication that black voters somehow don’t count<\/a> (hence no need to worry about Clinton’s complete tanking among Black voters<\/a>) is racist anti-Obama crap<\/a>. The constant positioning of Obama as a scary, non-American “other,” from the flag pin “issue”<\/a> to last week’s Washington Post editorial<\/a> claiming that Obama lacks<\/a> the “blood” and “heritage”<\/a> to be President, is racist anti-Obama crap.<\/p>\n