Black Nationalism (BN) advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of black national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different black nationalist philosophies but the principles of all black nationalist ideologies are 1) black pride, and 2) black economic, political, social and/or cultural independence from white society. Marcus Garvey is considered to be the grandfather of black nationalism.

1. Commitment to God. "The God of our weary years" will give us the strength to give up prayerful passivism and become Black Christian Activists, soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind.

2. Commitment to the Black Community. The highest level of achievement for any Black person must be a contribution of strength and continuity of the Black Community.

3. Commitment to the Black Family. The Black family circle must generate strength, stability and love, despite the uncertainty of externals, because these characteristics are required if the developing person is to withstand warping by our racist competitive society.

Those Blacks who are blessed with membership in a strong family unit must reach out and expand that blessing to the less fortunate.

4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education. We must forswear anti-intellectualism. Continued survival demands that each Black person be developed to the utmost of his/her mental potential despite the inadequacies of the formal education process. "Real education" fosters understanding of ourselves as well as every aspect of our environment. Also, it develops within us the ability to fashion concepts and tools for better utilization of our resources, and more effective solutions to our problems. Since the majority of Blacks have been denied such learning, Black Education must include elements that produce high school graduates with marketable skills, a trade or qualifications for apprenticeships, or proper preparation for college.

Basic education for all Blacks should include Mathematics, Science, Logic, General Semantics, Participative Politics, Economics and Finance, and the Care and Nurture of Black minds.

5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence. To the extent that we individually reach for, even strain for excellence, we increase, geometrically, the value and resourcefulness of the Black Community. We must recognize the relativity of one's best; this year's best can be bettered next year. Such is the language of growth and development. We must seek to excel in every endeavor.

6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic. "It is becoming harder to find qualified people to work in Chicago." Whether this is true or not, it represents one of the many reasons given by businesses and industries for deserting the Chicago area. We must realize that a location with good facilities, adequate transportation and a reputation for producing skilled workers will attract industry. We are in competition with other cities, states and nations for jobs. High productivity must be a goal of the Black workforce.

7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect. To accomplish anything worthwhile requires self-discipline. We must be a community of self-disciplined persons if we are to actualize and utilize our own human resources, instead of perpetually submitting to exploitation by others. Self-discipline, coupled with a respect for self, will enable each of us to be an instrument of Black Progress and a model for Black Youth.

8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness." Classic methodology on control of captives teaches that captors must be able to identify the "talented tenth" of those subjugated, especially those who show promise of providing the kind of leadership that might threaten the captor's control.

Those so identified are separated from the rest of the people by:

1. Killing them off directly, and/or fostering a social system that encourages them to kill off one another. 2. Placing them in concentration camps, and/or structuring an economic environment that induces captive youth to fill the jails and prisons. 3. Seducing them into a socioeconomic class system which, while training them to earn more dollars, hypnotizes them into believing they are better than others and teaches them to think in terms of "we" and "they" instead of "us." 4. So, while it is permissible to chase "middleclassness" with all our might, we must avoid the third separation method - the psychological entrapment of Black "middleclassness." If we avoid this snare, we will also diminish our "voluntary" contributions to methods A and B. And more importantly, Black people no longer will be deprived of their birthright: the leadership, resourcefulness and example of their own talented persons.

9. Pledge to Make the Fruits of All Developing and Acquired Skills Available to the Black Community.

10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions.

11. Pledge Allegiance to All Black Leadership Who Espouse and Embrace the Black Value System.

12. Personal Commitment to Embracement of the Black Value System. To measure the worth and validity of all activity in terms of positive contributions to the general welfare of the Black Community and the Advancement of Black People towards freedom.

Of course it would be way overblown to say those polls show "Obama can't win" or anything ridiculous like that.

But these are three important states for any general election.  These numbers are not to be sneezed at.

In the polls I saw a few months ago, she wasn't the most popular Senator in the country. She wasn't in what I would consider the red zone but her numbers weren't great even then.  I wouldn't doubt that her phones have been ringing off the hook since the videos hit the main stream news. I firmly believe if Obama is the nominee, the 527s will have a field day with this and that will only cause her more grief. A big loss by Obama in the GE and Claire IMO could become a one term Senator as she has billed herself among other things as a ideological ally of Senator Obama. This of course is just my opinion of how this may play out in my state. I've been wrong before and could be wrong again. While I wouldn't mind having a different Dem as my Senator, I would prefer the state move more blue and not become more red.

Republicans care about their pocketbook.  In the privacy of their voting booth, they will vote for Clinton.  

"I just worry that she wouldn't be able to get the independents or some Republicans you need to win a GE"

Your post made me remember Hillary's biggest liability was supposed to be Bill's past.

All we've been doing is speaking of Obama's.

Having said that, Clinton has been distinguishing herself on the issues, and I  believe she has some very  talented people advising her, the best of the best, as opposed to second tier failures, looking for another chance.

The MSM, at least the news I watch, doesnt cover the policy talks, (too boring for them, I guess, not sexy) but I try to find out what's going on,  the war and economy being critical issues.

Maybe she is reaching voters, just on a more grassroots level.

Meaning, as of this moment, anyway, she might stand a good chance against McCain, if she were to win the nomination, on a sound platform.

Remember those A students in school who always came prepared, always knew what they were doing, the ones always regarded as the brain of the class?

That's Hillary, as opposed to the consultant, poll driven rope-a-dope policies we see from the others.

You know, all those vote pandering flip flops.

Actually, this seems to be the problem with Clinton supporters.  You seem to equate primary wins in OH and (likely) PA with general election wins.

...A complete flip in Ohio.  With Sen. Clinton on the ballot, she wins by double-digits.  With Sen. Obama on the ballot, he loses by double-digits.

His fall in Ohio is a terrible sign. it means disaster for the GE. Clinton said it and we all know it. Without Ohio or Florida, and certainly without BOTH, we lose.

or did you mean Clinton is within MOE in MO?! Sorry...heh...oops...

<Yes she is, which is great for her and our party if she's nominated.  At the same time, as far as I know, she still performs much more poorly than Obama in states like Colorado, Virginia, Oregon, Washington state, Iowa, and Wisconsin.  They each have strengths and weaknesses right now>

Most of those states have had no recent polling, so we can't be sure of their present snapshots.

I'll grant you Colorado, because she's always been very weak there for some reason, but I'm not convinced she would underperform Obama vis-a-vis McCain in any of the other states you mentioned.  Hillary is doing great with Latinos, Asians, moderate women, Catholics, and blue-collar workers, all of whom might be considered swing votes that could be potentially lost to McCain.  She thus has a good chance to hold on to the crucial center we'll need to win the election.

Obama's especially strong among African-Americans and whites who have always been against the Iraq war.  These two groups, especially when taken together, constitute a big chunk of the Democratic electorate, but a much smaller percentage of the general electorate.  I'm not so sure he could pick up enough centrist voters to outperform Clinton in Virginia, Oregon, Washington state, Iowa, or Wisconsin -- especially given the huge hit on his favorability ratings which is already underway.

I don't think McCain could be very happy about being down in Ohio with Hillary at 50.

After talking to people in Oregon this week, Obama is not doing so well. He will lose the east half of the state because he refuses to make a campaign stop there and people have been asking him to come. He is only doing the I-5 corridor...Portland the like.

Nader could be seen as taking votes from the democrats, while other 3rd parties, such as the libertarians would more readily be taking votes from the republicans. However if part of your point is that the Nader cost Gore Florida, I totally agree.

Don't be surprised that the super majority or more don't.  Also, the Hispanics and Asians will be out the door too.

Good analysis. The Obama campaign had a big part in painting the Clinton's comments in So. Carolina as racist. Obama has now created a situation where both Dem candidates are tarnished.

On simple post-2004 trend, MO is a narrow 49/51-ish loss for Democrats.  Colorado is probably a little more likely, Virginia a bit less.

The winning electoral votes are in Ohio, Florida, and/or the Wisconsin-Iowa-New Mexico-Nevada quadruplet.  

How about a primary? Oh yeah, that's what we're doing :)