Politics of Sex and Race ; Hillary Searches for a Feminist Rationale

Summary

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When Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate, Jews were elated - and scared. Many worried that if he said or did anything wrong, everyone would blame the Jews. That never happened; there's little evidence that anti-Semitism played any role at all in the election of 2000.

Now there's a similar buzz among blacks, who fear the nomination of Barack Obama would unleash a racial backlash. Black reaction to certain of Bill and Hillary's remarks suggest just such fears. The most insulting remark, in the complaints of many blacks, was the question of emphasis in Hillary Clinton's remark that "Dr. [Martin Luther] King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act." Fair enough (although a reference to her old civics textbook would remind Hillary that Congress passes legislation, presidents sign legislation into law). Then she added that "it took a president to get it done." That wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't smart. It wasn't racist, but it was polarizing. She diminished Martin Luther King and elevated Lyndon Johnson.

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Politics of Sex and Race ; Hillary Searches for a Feminist Rationale

Questioned about her remarks on "Meet the Press," she told interviewer Tim Russert that "this campaign is not about gender, and I sure hope it's not about race." That's disingenu...

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