hillbillary is wrong: race isn't the problem

In my previous diary [a HUGE loss for Obama is not a problem] I explained how a 30+ loss in WV will be viewed by voters in the rest of the nation: they will see it as a problem with the people who live in that state rather than with Obama.

That is what disturbs me about hillary's condescending analysis of "hard-working, white" voters, who must only live in WV and KY, but certainly not in Oregon, Montana or North Dakota, where Obama will eat her lunch.  hillary presents the problem in racial terms [making her, by definition, a racist], when the reality is starkly different.

For the majority of people living in Appalachia who have a problem with Obama, the reluctance to vote for him is cultural, not racial.  The issue is CHANGE.

Things don't change very quickly in the Appalachian Region.  Go read the report of the Appalachian Regional Commission: with the exception of the New Deal and the early successes of the Union movement--both occurring over 60 years ago--change generally correlates with deterioration of the economy, the ecology, and an aging of the population.

The Obama campaign is offering real change to America at a time when it desperately desires change.  Obama's success is largely due to his ability to express a vision of positive, though achievable, change to voters, who have had to swallow a lot of negative changes in the past 10 years.

In general, Americans embrace change, which is why advertisers are constantly tweaking their formulas in order to justify the 'new' and 'improved' label on their products.  hillary couldn't repackage herself as new or improved, so she went with 'tried' and 'true', except it came off as 'been there' 'done it', to the voters.

In Appalachia, been there/done it is okay.  That's not to say these people won't vote for Obama some day, but it may take 4 years of a successful presidency, a successful health care plan, energy policy, to win them over.  The clintons are political comfort food to these people.  But their allegiance is cultural, not personal.

So please understand that the clinton framing of the race issue with 'hard-working, white' voters, is just another desperate lie spun to cast confusion over the nominating process.  Coming this late in the game, after Obama won a plurality of 'hard-working, white' voters in many states, the framing is loathesome.  It is demeaning to the millions of white voters nationwide who prefer Obama over clinton, but it particularly is disparaging of white voters in West Virginia and Kentucky.  

The clintons are trying to convince those voters that Obama isn't 'one of them', but in reality they are trying to fool them into overlooking the fact that the only thing hillary clinton has in common with these working people is the color of her skin.  By purposely making these people seem racist in order to keep the issue of race alive, she is willing to risk the comity of the Democratic Party which has been the champion of civil rights for the past 7 decades.

Perhaps she should consider running as a 3rd Party candidate with Pat Buchanan, or perhaps David Duke, as her running mate.