The Clinton Strategy: A Study in Racism, Classism and Cynicism

When Obama won Iowa, the Clintons came to realize, through Mark Penn's micro trend analysis, that the only way they could beat Obama's charisma and the optimism he brought to the Democrats was to slice and dice the electorate in an effort to systematically prove and, by definition, insure that Obama would not be able to win the general election.

First, by cynically trying to turn him into the "black" candidate, a la Jesse Jackson in South Carolina, they created the kind of meme the MSM could run with, that America, at its core, is too racist to elect an African American. While Obama went across the country winning white voters in every kind of state in every region, they set up their next play; exploiting real and imagined tensions between Latinos and African Americans in Texas, and simultaneously setting the stage in Ohio for their endgame, class warfare.

Clinton's modestly successful "Hail Mary Pass" with the manufacture and execution of NaftaGate, demonstrated Obama's vulnerability on class issues and the value of waiting for the right moment to zero in for the kill.  They have spent the past several weeks lying in wait for Obama to give them an opening. Ironically, the gift of Rev. Wright looping across the MSM couldn't really help them seal the deal, because they had already exhausted "Obama is the black candidate". Bad bowling didn't do it because Hillary can't bowl either.  Now, with 10 days to go until the PA primary, they may have gotten what they've been hoping for; a way to pull it all together using Barack's own words to create the frame that won Bill Clinton the presidency in 1992 and Bush in 2000 and 2004.  "Obama is an elitist who is out of touch with mainstream Americans" could be a tough sell, given his story, but by using one of the dirtiest words in American politics to alienate working class white voters, Clinton is betting on the trifecta of racism, classism and cynicism to triangulate herself into the nomination. Stay tuned.