Patronizing And Disrespectful

Walt writes:

I was talking to a black coworker the other day (not the same one as previously) who was pissed at Hillary. He said that she, currently in second place, offered the vice-presidential spot to Obama, who is currently in first place. This guy felt that Hillary was being patronizing and disrespectful.

I respond:

Everything your coworker is complaining about is true. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is.

The Clinton camp is using a race-conscious (it may be too much to call it a racist) approach to winning. Frequently these kinds of appeals are usually unstated assumptions in, say, complaints about the unfairness of affirmative action, or complaints about misogyny in rap lyrics. Racist assumptions are unstated, but often lurk in the background. Hillary’s approach has been to use surrogates (Bill Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, and others) to tap into these race-conscious themes, which generally amount to – there are more white women than black men in America, so back off!

Clinton is also using what the left blogosphere has dubbed the “bitch-slap” approach to dealing with Obama. You want a more-complaint Obama? Slap the bitch across the face. Or get someone else to slap the bitch across the face. It’s surprising how well it works. For the last decade, Republicans have bitch-slapped Democrats up-and-down Capitol Hill on any number of issues, and it has made Democrats battle-shy. Republicans have often prevailed, even when the odds were against them at first, by simply being rougher than the Democrats. So, Hillary simultaneously states that she is willing to consider Obama for the vice-presidential spot, but that Obama doesn’t have the experience to be commander-in-chief? That sounds like a classic bitch-slap.

The way to respond is for Obama to beat Hillary. Right now, it looks like the superdelegates will decide the race, but they are professional politicians – professional weathervanes – who will look at the race as dispassionately as possible and side with the contender who helps the superdelegates the most. Obama has to find a way of coping with Hillary’s approach, because McCain will likely follow the same approach, but with maybe less restraint.

The next big race is Pennsylvania, and there is an entire month to campaign. Clinton has a big advantage there, but if Obama can close the gap, or beat Clinton, Obama will be almost impossible to stop. So, if I were in Obama, I’d hop on a bus and campaign in every single small town in Pennsylvania for the next month – Hillary’s strongholds. Beat her there, or even come close, and the nomination is his. Then Obama can do his own trash-talking, if he likes, to the convention, and beyond.

A basketball analogy is appropriate: the 2002 NBA Western Division Playoff Series between the champion LA Lakers, and the challenger Sacramento Kings. Sacramentans were shocked at how the referees would not call obvious fouls by the rough-playing Lakers. The attitude of the referees seemed to be: “If you want the Western Division Championship - if you really want the Western Division Championship – you have to beat the Lakers, and not go whining to us, because we’re not going to do your job for you.” Sacramento couldn’t quite do it, which was bad for the team that Shaq liked to call the Sacramento “Queens.”

Here’s a bit more on that basketball series:

With the addition of Bibby, the Kings had their best season to date in 2001-02. The team finished with a league-best record of 61-21, going 36-5 at ARCO Arena, and stormed through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Kings then faced the L.A. Lakers, the two-time defending champions in the western conference finals. In what has been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest playoff series of all time, the Kings jumped out to a 3-2 lead. In a highly contested game 6 at the STAPLES Center, the Kings lost narrowly. The Kings shot nine free throws in the fourth quarter to the Lakers 27. The Kings would go on to lose the series. In the seventh and final game, poor free throw shooting would doom the Kings; making only 16 of 30 free throws (53.3%).