Well the previously implicit, bashed version was still pretty obvious.

I give them points for chutzpah. Still, much too late for any serious argument on Hillary's behalf. The race is over.

Yo Garin,

It's OVER.

It's as OVER as "Survey USA is the best and most accurate pollster."

This desperation tactic by the Clinton campaign is both very sad and destructive to the Democratic Party and to the nation as a whole. Public talk about racial divisions serves only to exacerbate and deepen them, so this is not costless if it is their approach going forward. Racial divisions are, of course, out there in the real world, but the way that elites talk and choose to compete with one another can either soften or exacerbate such divides. Social science research is clear on this.

The rationale for Superdelegates is to use their judgement in a timely way for the good of the party as a whole. It is time for them to decide and let all progressives move on from Clinton last-ditchism.

Well, what else can the guy really say? It's his job to promote her and there's not much silver lining to be found.

By Friday, Hillary will be giving speeches in front of a giant Confederate flag.

"Barack Obama, if this offends you, you need a history lesson!!!"

Common side effects of Clinton propaganda include:

Extreme dizziness, vertigo, nausea, and vomiting.

Consume at your own risk.

Dude,
Just stop. Seriously. It's getting sad.

I don't know if I'm more amazed by the brazenness, the moral bankruptcy or the political imbecility of this argument.

So, they're going to keep up the race baiting. What class.

Taken from Dailykos, Clinton had a wide slippage in the white female vote in Indiana:

Let's compare Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, three states which are similar in overall demographics.

First, the female percentage of the electorate shrunk. In Ohio women made up 59% of voters, and in Pennsylvania 58%, but only 56% in Indiana. While Indiana being an open primary means that independents (who tend to be men) had high turnout and probably shifted the demographics considerably, but it doesn't explain the difference with Ohio. With a slightly higher turnout, Clinton could have won by a larger margin.

Next, let's look at Hillary's margin over Obama among women:

Ohio: Hillary - 57% of the female vote to Obama's 41% - a 16% gap
Pennsylvania: Hillary - 59%, Obama 41% - an 18% gap
Indiana: Hillary - 51% - Obama - 49% - a 2% gap!

In contrast the male vote was essentially constant, with Hillary winning men by 2% in Ohio, and Obama winning men by 2% in Pennsylvania and Indiana.

The gender gap in Hillary's support (her female support minus male support) was 7% in Ohio, 10% in PA, but only 2% in Indiana.

Could the difference in black female turnout have made a difference? Not much. Black women made up 11% of the OH electorate, 8% of the PA electorate, and 10% of the IN electorate. In all three states, black women voted for Obama by essentially the same amount.

Instead, it was the closing of the white female vote which denied Clinton a wide victory.

Ohio: Clinton 67%, Obama 31% - 36% gap
Pennsylvania: Clinton 68%, Obama 32% - 34% gap
Indiana: Clinton 60% - Obama 40% - 20% gap

As with men at large, white men didn't really change much. They supported Clinton by a 19% margin in Ohio, a 14% margin in Pennsylvania, and a 14% margin in Indiana.

Somehow, in the closing days of her campaign in the state, Clinton managed to squander a goodly portion of the gender gap which has won her state after state. Without this slippage, Obama would have only marginally improved over PA, given the higher male and slightly higher African-American turnout.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/7/112410/1487/624/510921

You can always count on the Clinton mafia to take the high road.

It's going to be great to see the Democratic Party cured of its Clinton infection.

This site is getting shrill. The Clinton campaign has to keep on putting whatever claims they have to remaining superdelegates so they can pay off their debts.

What else could Garin say about North Carolina?

No one takes any of this seriously, except Clinton contributors. Show me the money! Obama has won. Be good winners.

And with my first post may I say I think it is now incumbent on the SuperDelis to stand up and be counted. Now. Tomorrow. Their silence is weak. If it is really over then why don't they finish it tomorrow. Rise up and finish her.....er....I mean.....say they are ALL FOR OBAMA. Isn't that what we are all waiting for? The end to Lady Macbeth and her naricissm.

Just wait until Wolfson floats the "white dem voters should count as 1 2/3 a vote per white voter"...

the monty python knight.." it's only a flesh wound...i'm not dead yet..."

I want whatever Garin is taking these days.
The United Democratic for 2008!

I think this is just inertia. It's hard to turn on a dime from win-at-all-costs to gracious loss.

I think the proof will be in the coming days. Let's see what she says today at her hastily organized event in WVa.

I'm not holding my breath.

Important correction:

Hillary won Indiana by 1.46% not 2%.

This is Hillary's best argument for continuing in the race??

So forget about coalitions, unity, diversity...it's all about "whites" -- no one else matters. Does she really think this appeal will win her any converts that she doesn't already have? Obama isn't the 'black candidate' - every Democrat since the 1960s has been the 'black candidate' b/c the Democratic platform is a progressive platform. If he was only the 'black candidate' then how do you account for 32 victories?

For every vote she gets b/c through 'fear of the black candidate' she'll lose 10 more from thoughtful people of all races and classes who celebrate the differences/commonality of all Americans.

Politics of the past.

Hillary's electability argument basically boils down to a modern-day retooling of the Three-Fifths Compromise. (Google it if you are unfamiliar.)

Hillary found a loophole in the Constitution where the "3/5ths" provision was never officially repealed. Therefore all of the votes cast by blacks count for 3/5ths and any white votes cast for Obama count for 3/5ths. So that puts Hillary in the lead by the metric of the people who have "whole" votes and not 3/5ths votes.

What we are witnessing is the Clinton campaign in its death throes. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that what Ickes said the other day was true, but that the circumstances on which that support was conditioned was a big day for Hillary yesterday. It didn't materialize. Also, the big money people behind her campaign have got to be getting antsy. Just about everyone with two working brain cells can see that it's over.

The dam is about to break and they're furiously trying to poke their fingers in to stop the leaks.

From what I have read, the real divide in many northern states, at least, is age, and it has been interpreted by one camp or another as strength based on other demographic factors (particularly gender). Also, notice how the only southern benchmark he comes up with is Virginia, which, I am here to tell you, is not very southern. Compared to Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, I would venture, Hillary Clinton did worse among whites in North Carolina. But he won't spin that meme.

Hill could use to bolster her 'states rights' pander . McCain may be ahead of her slightly on that one.

What the hell has happened to Otto and Goatlife?

Won't anyone at least make a token troll effort? Or do I have to do it for them? Jeremiah Wright hates American oil companies, which is why Obama's against the Gas Tax!!! GO Hillary (preferably home)!!!

Oh my. This is the first article I've read today. How sad. I had some vague hope last night that maybe she would move into an endgame and show something vaguely resembling class.

But no. We get grotesque spin on a 15-point loss with "we won with the white folk!" And just like only certain states count, only certain voters count.

Despicable.

Fellow Democrats, now is the time for us to bury all hatchets and try our best to come together. I realize it is hard for Clinton supporters to accept this in the face of their unfailing support for their candidate. I would feel the same if Obama had lost. But, we are all Democrats and there is a general election waiting for us. We must defeat McCain in November. Isn't that the reason for the record turnouts in all the primaries and caucuses? This country and our Constitution cannot withstand another Bush term. The MSM will begin their attacks on Obama TODAY. Here comes Reverend Wright again, Ayers, Rezko and all the rest of it. (Please Hillary supporters, don't start with "I told you so", because it would be the same 'politics of destruction' from them if she had won, believe me).

We must unite behind the Democratic nominee and stop the nonsense of trying to cut our noses off to spite our faces. We must remain vigilent and DEMAND the main stream media coverage to be truly 'fair and balanced' and not one-sided as it has shown itself to be in these primaries. We also need to let it be known, loud and clear, that we will NOT stand idly by while this election is, again STOLEN from us, like the last two. That we will NOT STAND FOR IT!! We will not stand by while another Republican candidate is 'selected' by the Supreme Court! We are 'the people' the Constitution talks about and it is our government and not the sole government of the Republicans or of the Corporations.
If Barack Obama's government is a fraud, as many Clinton supporters have alleged (I certainly do not think so), I will be the first to stand up and point that out. But, he is our best HOPE to change the politics we now have. I just want my country back. I am sick of being lied to; I am sick of being spied on'; I am sick of being a citizen responsible to the world for the utter incompetancy of the leaders of our country; I am tired of living in fear of our OWN government. Please, let's come together and try to straighten out the mess that has been created in the last eight years! It is our last and best HOPE!

Comments like these that have been proffered since Obama started winning is why AFrican-Americans have abandoned the Clintons en masse.

The pathetic part is that Team Clinton may believe this crap; their campaign based entitlement has never made much sense.

Their contention that white votes are more valuable than black votes because Obama is black and automatically gets black votes is ridiculous.

Should blacks again count for 3/5 of a person, Hillary?

The sad thing is that, even as an Obama supporter, these numbers worry the hell out of me. Virginia is a great state for Obama in the general. Lots of African Americans and lots of college educated whites in the DC suburbs.

But, in the general, NC (and to a greater extent Ohio and PA) are heavily union and that's a bad group for Obama. Is it race? Who knows for sure. But what I do know is that statistically I could see the race coming down to PA again and then having the "Tom Bradley Effect" sink him.

I'm not saying this makes him less electable than Hillary. To the contrary, I think Hillary's negatives among men, and other baggage make her unelectable. But, I could completely see us losing with Obama and then scratching our heads as to how it happened. Maybe I have too low an opinion of others, and beleive me I want to be proven wrong, but I'm not sure this country is ready for Obama.

Clinton's campaign is Whites Only.

Ya know I really want to get along but this makes it very, VERY HARD!!!!

Sick of this bullshit.

End it, Hillary, so the healing can begin!!!

Has anyone thought on how the demographic breakdown would be affected by removing the dittohead factor from the equation? If it amounts to about 5%, then the demographic breakdown for Senator Obama would be much healthier than the NC and IN would indicate.

If only the Clintons knew the meaning of the word 'shame', she might close out the campaign in the same manner that Mike Huckabee did; remaining positive and not weakening the all but presumptive nominee of his party. Alas...

Barack Obama is a decent, honest individual who respects the rights of all others. He may make mistakes at times – as do we all – and graciously admits to those mistakes – unlike most elected officials who believe that being honest will reduce their stature or expose them to ridicule.

Obama has shown more class and respect for a very antagonistic opponent than he was ever shown. He did not rise to the challenge to dump on his opponent when there were opportunities to do so (i.e., ABC “debate”) and chose instead to state that his opponent had answered the question put to her when the moderator tried to goad him into furthering the attack on her.

Obama personifies the word presidential. None of his opponents have demonstrated that quality. They are the same old tired (physically, spiritually, mentally) say almost anything to win approval.

America and the world need a real, honest to God, presidential individual to help restore dignity, courage, faith and respect in our country.

The democratic primary is over. We have our candidate.

Votes are votes. Obama has more AMERICAN votes...more than Clinton can realistically hope to overtake. I hope Clinton does the right thing soon, but more than that I hope her supporters do the right thing. If they decide that they will swing the election to McSame, which should not even be a contest in November, they will be the ones responsible for bringing this country further down into the abyss and not the Obama supporters.

Clinton is like a shark that can't stop swimming because it will drown. She can't stop campaigning so she just keeps going on and on.

However, I do expect her to reinvent herself going forward. She has lost whole segments of the electorate and she will marginalize herself into irrelevance if she isn't careful so I expect a kinder more gentle Clinton campaign going forward.

Seriously Fogu, your avatar is killing me. It's tough to stay mad at you.

Methinks that Hillary got "vetted" last night.

No, the Chicken-O stays! Every side has a right to make fun of its opposition via avatar, even if I don't agree with that side.

pathetic, transparent cherry-picking. what about all the other states and other demographics where she lost ground? perhaps the one good thing about this extended farce is that it clearly shows how far Hillary and her camp are willing to try to stretch the truth and twist the facts. it gives a strong foretaste of what a Hillary administration would be like. and it's a really foul taste.

"Trading Places" is the name of the movie starring Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine. The quote you're referring to is when Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche), after losing his bet to brother Randolph (Ralph Bellamy), is asked whether they should keep Valentine on as the managing director to which he famously responds,

"Do you really believe I would have a "n-word" run our family business, Randolph?"

Randolph's reply, "Of course not. Neither would I."

This very well could be the Clinton camp's "whisper" strategy for the remainder of the primaries, and should Obama win the Democratic nomination, it will prove to be more than just a whisper strategy for the GOP.

Hillary is going to win West Virginia and Kentucky, and then she's going to try to claim that because RACIST WHITE PEOPLE will only vote for her, she is the only one who can beat McCain. Just watch - that's the next step. And it's going to be ugly!

The scary thing is that, as I was reminded last night by someone on NPR, the primaries are not constitutionally legislated elections. They are "party exercises," designed to help decide on a nominee. But the whole reason why the superdelegates were put in place was to give the Democratic establishment (i.e., rich white guys) power over all the "special interest groups" under the Democratic party tent - blacks, gays, commies, women... So it's totally conceivable that Hillary will try to make a case for herself that says Hey guys, I know everyone went out and voted for Obama, but really the only ones voting for him were black people and Jewish college professors. We can't win an election based on those voters (I heard someone refer to the groups as "eggheads and African Americans - the Dukakis coalition"). So, fuck the voters, fuck the black man, and vote for me JUST BECAUSE I'M WHITE.

If this happens, it will be the breakdown of the Democratic party and one of the biggest racial crimes to ever happen in our country. And the fact that Hillary and Bill Clinton would even be considering pursuing that angle (which they've already started pursuing with her whiskey shot-taking and not dropping out even though she can't possibly win via popular vote or delegate count) proves that they are totally racist, despite the fact that Bill Clinton was supposed to have been the "first black president"!

It just does not seem to have dawned on a lot of liberal bloggers and Obama supporters that Barack has two big things going against him in terms of electability: 1) the central issue of American domestic politics is race and he's so far shown himself unable to win lower middle class and working class white votes; and 2) the fact that Barack has such a hard time winning them, especially in states that would be likely to go Democratic, is in substantial part because by background and personality he's not - or at least doesn't present himself - as a down-to-earth guy. He's more John Kerry than Bill Clinton. He's intelligent, thoughtful and level-headed, and certainly election of a black man to the Presidency would be historic, but there's more to getting becoming President than that.

The position at hand is election of the political leader of U.S. capitalism. There is no apparent Establishment consensus that current circumstances call for someone of Obama's background to run the country. While one never knows how this election cycle will turn out, or how the political and economic situation might change in the coming months, right now it seems as though his role is most likely to be as the candidate to keep younger within the Democratic Party and thus the two party system, much as McGovern did in 1972. If Obama does get shunted aside, whether this summer or in November, it will not be the breakdown of the Democratic Party or American democracy, but business as usual. Anyone who is looking to the Democrats to be a model for dealing with racism is definitely in the wrong place.

Thank you Tena for your comments.

Well - it's not dog whistles anymore - it's out and out "race", plain and simple. And those who can't hear it need to get ear wax removal treatment.

At least it should be clear by now: the Clinton campaign simply does not think Black votes should count for anything.

There are some interesting numbers from IN.. you can find them at http://www.wthr.com

Votes for Dem President - 1,254,136

Votes for Dem Governor - 1, 124,581

There were 129,555 more votes for Dem President than for Dem Governor... apparantly there were voters who only voted for the Dem President but not for other Dem candidates... partially the Limbaugh 'Operation Chaos' effect?

I haven't read all of the comments, but CNN and other MSM outlets will certainly cheerlead this "idea" and make the argument for her. They will try to divide this nation.

Didn't you see CNN last night, they were constantly putting up the graphic that said
"Obama wins 91% of African American vote, and Clinton 9%", then they put something up that said something to the effect of " Precints left to report heavily African American"...

Then they went after ther African American mayor, letting the Clinton supporting mayor go so far as to accuse them of "hanky-panky"...

Then the Donna Brazille argument. I mean let's say they dig something up on Obama, etc. who knows what could happen, the Florida, MI thing. I have a feeling that the Clinton's will try and keep this alive forever!

God bless us everyone. We shouldn't let ourselves be divided. It's like that slogan, we had to bomb the country to save it. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater, means don't justify the ends type of thing.

I listened to about 40 minutes of the conference call which I found ... for want of a better word ... gendered. Clinton's men sounded like people who are used to barking out orders and expecting people to obey them. The few women on the call were either full-blown celebrities like Andrea Mitchell, or they spoke with a supplicating rising tone at the end of their sentences like teenagers. (Fair or not, I'm including the conference call operator.)

Hillary's appeal is not only to racists, but also ... paradoxically ... to sexists as well. Open-mindedness is open-mindedness, and it's rare to find people with liberal attitudes in racial matters who lack them in gender matters as well. Clinton is the female you can trust. Her paid operatives are men, by God. And the people of Indiana know it.

I thought the theory was that the party was letting Sen. Clinton stay in the race if she played nice? With her and her campaign's constant repeating of the only-I-can-win-the-white-vote meme over and over again, the media is going to start picking it up and then it becomes self-reinforcing. It is time for the party to put this to bed. I am going to personally write to Dean and say so. I don't see how this moves us towards reconciliation or how it's better for Obama to have her win in West Virginia while she's still in the race. W. Virginia is just going to hammer home her point. I'm not naive enough to believe that there isn't a racial factor in this election, but do we really want the Clinton campaign and the media repeating this for another month?

Thank you Ms Skocpol for your thoughtful post. It's refreshing and reassuring to have my faith in the intelligence, sanity, and good judgment of the American people reaffirmed.

From one of our best political minds- Kathleen Hall Jamieson (this woman is just brilliant):

HALL JAMIESON: Well, the first decision is whether you talk about it at all. And, then, what frame do you use when you talk about it?

In last night's cable commentary about the outcome, you saw a frame that presupposed white vs. black as the operative assumption. And, in the process, we simplified what was going on.

In the earlier segment, someone mentioned -- I think it was David -- that Senator Obama is having trouble with moderate voters. Imagine a discussion last night that, instead of parsing based on racial lines, asked, what are the ideological divides? Or there is a division between younger and older. Or there is a division between male and female.

There is actually also a division between rural and urban. And there's a difference that is really remarkable, when you start to put those patterns together, even in the absence of race.

When the media focus on "the black vote," "the white vote," and then they start to particularize the white vote within that, they invite us to see race as a defining category of analysis. That simplifies, distorts, and heightens a concept that probably is best left not discussed in this broader, complex arena, because it's missing a whole lot of what's happening with this electorate.