Gridlock News

Since early December the Clinton Campaign seems to be engaging in a direct attempt to disenfranchise the African American vote. 

Their strategy seems to be to thwart younger African American voters from turning out and voting for a young Barack Obama.  The Clinton Campaign is still working to shore up the elder African American vote.

They have made a number of back handed attacks on Obama from calling out his use of cocaine and other drugs, an extreme negative.  To repeating over and over that we are living in a monumental time when an African American can run for President.  Then tonight Hillary insinuated that Barack was involved working as a slum landlord or something.

On the point of the historic times concept, I think this is a bit of a backhanded trap.  Barack is not the first African American running for President.  There have been several very serious candidates that stood a good chance of making it to the highest office including Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Alan Keys just to name the most recent.

When Hillary repeats this concept like a mantra, she makes Obama look like he is special as opposed to just another candidate.  When she applies this special  label to Barack Obama it reduces his universal appeal bit by bit.

So at the end of the day, all of this pushes Barack Obama into the category of the first African American candidate with a chance.

"Oh, isn't that nice." that's the almost condescending thought that you can hear people thinking whenever Hillary mentions that we are living in extraordinary times.  You can almost envision imprinted promotional products like nice coffee mugs passed out at the Democratic Convention as a nice consolation prize.

Barack Obama needs to step back outside of that 'special' category and get back to the universal appeal position that he occupied so successfully last summer and fall.

So as you listen, to the back handed jabs that come out of the Clinton Campaign from Hillary and Bill and their staffers, consider if you are or if you were a young African American voter does the statement turn you off from potentially showing up and voting.  Does it make you lose hope?  Might it stop you from supporting Barack Obama?

If yes, then the Clinton's plan might just win.