Who Is The Blackest of Us All?

This morning I was awakened by the Today Show's breaking news: "More political drama as Obama and Clinton campaigns wage race war." It seems that while speaking at a rally, Hillary said that "the Martin Luther King dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Granted, I am not paid to look for things to ruin the chances of another Clinton presidency, but this statement doesn't send up red flags for me. It seems to me that she was saying exactly what she said - that due to the Act of 1964, MLK's dreams came true. The Obama campaign however, saw it as diminishing Kings role in the Civil Rights Act. How exactly did she do that? Her team retorted however by publishing a memo that surfaced from the Obama camp that listed examples of statements by Clinton that could be construed as being "racially insensitive." Can you say "Ugly Campaign Tactics?" Of course John Edwards had to get in his support for Obama (or the man he hopes will pick him up as a running mate) by saying," I was troubled recently to see a suggestion that real change came not through Rev. Martin Luther King, but through a Washington politician. I fundamentally disagree with that."

Hillary is not alone in her "racially insensitive" comments. Bill has also been targeted for saying that Obama's Iraq War Strategy is a "fairy tale." The relationship between this statement and racially negative words is not clear to me. Obama's team believes that Bill was insinuating that Obama's dreams of being president (since he is a black man) are a "fairy tale." What?

All of this "strategy" comes a little over a week before the South Carolina primary on January 26 where at least half of all registered voters are African American. That state would be an important win for either Clinton or Obama and would be a good indication of which camp had Black America support in this election.

Historically, the Clinton's have fared well with black voters, and Bill was even dubbed the "first black president" by well known religious leaders in the black community. The Clinton's believed they could count on the black vote, which is becoming increasingly more important to capturing a victory, until Obama made such a showing, gaining support of Oprah and other leaders in the black community as well as much of the white voter support in Iowa. After his Iowa win, while making a speech, Obama's wife Michelle commented that,"some blacks may not think a White America will elect him, but there ain't no black people in Iowa."

I have thought about this and I really don't think think that Hillary Clinton made those remarks as a deliberate charge against Martin Luther King or against Barack Obama. Do I think she is above making remarks that might be derogatory? No, I think she could make very insensitive remarks if she wanted to or thought it would help her. I don't think she did this, because she is too smart to open this can of worms that would look negatively on her right before the SC primaries. Everything that comes out of her mouth is calculated and is part of her bigger plan. This has too much possibility of effecting her negatively and she would not put that out there with that risk. Bill? I don't give him that much credit, but I don't think he was being "insensitive" either.

It sounds too simple, but if all involved would just stick to the facts and how they relate to current issues, the right American might just get elected.