Perspective on the Clinton Campaign

Age has its disadvantages, like aching knees, but I have lived through a half century of the history of colonial wars and racial politics. I have seen before what the Clinton campaign is doing now.

Another Arkansas Governor
In 1957, Gov. Orval Faubus considered himself a progressive and a friend of the nigras. He had, after all, desegregated public buses. But, when a federal court ordered that nine black students be allowed to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Faubus decided it was politically expedient to defy the order and sent the Arkansas National Guard to stop the integration. Pres. Eisenhower trumped Faubus by sending in the 101st Airborne Division to protect the black students. Time magazine article from 1957.

Faubus was named one of the "Ten Men in the World Most Admired by Americans" in a Gallup poll in 1958 and served as governor of Arkansas for another decade.

Wallace and Nixon

Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever! ~ George Wallace, 1963

George Wallace had a very simple campaign platform in 1968 - nuke Hanoi (sounds like John McCain, eh?) and restore southern segregation. His campaign slogans were "Law and Order" (imprison uppity niggers) and "State's Rights" (the states have the right to do anything they please to oppress blacks and the federal government has no right to interfere).

Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy was to integrate those catch phrases into his stump speeches and add "federalism" (another way to say State's Rights) and "strict constructionist judges" (judges who believe every Supreme Court ruling after Plessy v. Ferguson was wrong). Nixon never defined those phrases. He didn't need to. Southern racists knew exactly what he meant. And, if Northerners didn't understand these code words, well, that's politics.

The Southern Strategy with a Rovian twist is still the staple of Republican politics.

The Clinton Strategy
Like Nixon before her, Clinton has to be subtle. Clinton does what Obama does not, remind everyone repeatedly that Obama is black...Black...BLACK!!! As asides, the Clinton campaign adds that blacks are, of course, drug dealers, shucking and jiving clowns, incompetent, and childlike. After each canard, there is a "didn't mean to say that" not quite apology and a few days later the Clintonites do it all again.

About the only things the Clintons haven't done is call Obama a terrorist and predict doom if he is elected. Oh, wait, they have. They have parroted Rush Limbaugh and called Obama a stealth Muslim extremist, have predicted terrorist attacks if he is elected, and the destruction of the Democratic Party if he heads the ticket.

There is a difference between rough and tumble politics and appeals to racism. Some of these attacks, absent the others, are just hardball politics. Taken as a whole, the Clinton campaign is a throw back to old-style Dixiecrats. Add in the Clintons decision to promote racial hatred between Hispanics and African-Americans as a campaign tactic and we have politics more attune to the 1920's than the 21st century.

As I wrote yesterday, the Clinton strategy has reached a tipping point for me. I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton any more than I could vote for Democrats like Orval Faubus or George Wallace. In this way, I admit, I am quite intolerant.