Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: Democrats in danger of self-destructing
By
Max J. Castro
An
overwhelming majority of Americans believe the country is going in
the wrong direction and about two- thirds thinks going to war in Iraq
was a mistake. President Bush’s approval ratings are very low, the
economy is in a recession, and consumer confidence has not been this
bad in a quarter century.
All
of these factors should spell disaster for the Republicans and their
candidate for the presidency. After all, John McCain, the GOP
nominee, not only supports the Iraq war, he was in favor of
escalating it before
the Bush administration was for it. McCain was for a surge before the
administration’s public relations machine invented the concept of
“surge” to obfuscate the reality of escalation.
On
the economy, McCain’s positions mirror the laissez faire stance of
George W. Bush. McCain’s cure for the disaster wrought by lax
regulation of financial markets is less regulation.
By
Max J. Castro Read Spanish Version
majcastro@gmail.com
An
overwhelming majority of Americans believe the country is going in
the wrong direction and about two- thirds thinks going to war in Iraq
was a mistake. President Bush’s approval ratings are very low, the
economy is in a recession, and consumer confidence has not been this
bad in a quarter century.
All
of these factors should spell disaster for the Republicans and their
candidate for the presidency. After all, John McCain, the GOP
nominee, not only supports the Iraq war, he was in favor of
escalating it before
the Bush administration was for it. McCain was for a surge before the
administration’s public relations machine invented the concept of
“surge” to obfuscate the reality of escalation.
On
the economy, McCain’s positions mirror the laissez faire stance of
George W. Bush. McCain’s cure for the disaster wrought by lax
regulation of financial markets is less regulation. His solution to
the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the financial ruin of countless
American families is to do almost nothing. And, at a time when
average Americans are experiencing economic hardship, McCain favors
making Bush’s tax cuts, which have put more money in the pockets of
the very rich and have shot up the deficit, permanent.
Why,
given all these realities, is John McCain in a virtual tie with
either of the possible Democratic candidates according to the polls?
The
answer is not that John McCain is such a stellar candidate or that he
has waged a brilliant campaign. In fact, McCain, whose claim to
leadership is predicated on his foreign policy and military
experience, has blundered frequently in this very area, including
confusing Sunnis and Shias.
One
piece of the puzzle is the endurance of sexism and racism in the
United States. Many Americans are in a denial about this, but it is a
reality that has been underlined by the primary campaign despite the
considerable support that one sector of the white electorate, more
educated and younger voters, has given Barack Obama.
Israel,
India, Pakistan, Chile, Nicaragua, and Liberia have all elected a
female heads of state. In the United States, neither of the two major
parties has ever even had a woman presidential candidate.
As
for a black president, the persistence of even virulent forms of
racism is such that when Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and a moderate Republican, considered running for
president his wife opposed it for fear of an assassination. And,
while today John McCain still campaigns without a Secret Service
detail, Barack Obama received so many threats that he asked for and
received Secret Service protection early in the race.
But
prejudice is not the total explanation. Handed a golden opportunity,
the Democrats seem determined to self-destruct. Most responsible for
this has been the Hillary Clinton campaign which has taken whole
chapters out of the Republican playbook in a desperate effort to
avert defeat. The tactics, aimed at damaging the image of Barack
Obama, have included the subtle manipulation of the racial
resentments of the electorate, guilt by association, and most
recently the use of the “culture” card and the deployment of the
charge of “elitism.”
The
latest GOP-like, Clinton attack on Obama seeks to exploit remarks the
Illinois Senator made on April 6 at a private fundraiser in San
Francisco: "It’s not surprising that they get bitter, they cling
to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or
anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment." Obama was
referring to the reaction of working class voters to their economic
plight in the context of his difficulty in attracting this
demographic sector.
Clinton
was quick to seize the chance to batter Obama, calling his comments
demeaning to people in small town America and repeatedly charging her
rival with elitism and with being out of touch with the values of
working class voters. The New York Senator’s purpose was clear: to
increase her support in Pennsylvania and Indiana, upcoming primary
states, home for many working class white voters.
Clinton
badly needs these wins. But the latest polls, taken before Obama’s
remarks, had shown Clinton’s lead had shrunk from double digits to
4 percent in Pennsylvania. It stood at only 3 percent in Indiana.
With Obama leading in the race by all measures including the crucial
delegate count, and with an Obama win in the North Carolina primary
likely, Clinton needs big victories in Pennsylvania and Indiana in
order to make a case that she deserves to be the Democratic nominee.
It
is increasingly clear that a) Hillary Clinton has no chance to win
the nomination except by using tactics that will damage the party’s
prospects for winning the White House; and b) that she is willing to
use those very tactics. The Republicans already are taking advantage
of Clinton’s scorched earth tactics. John McCain wasted no time in
repeating Clinton’s attack on Obama’s remarks as elitist.
By
all rights the Republicans should be trounced in November. But the
residue of racism that continues to poison this country, plus the
blind ambition of one of the Democratic candidates, promises, at a
minimum, to make the race more competitive than it has any right to
be.
