because of all the black people there?

"What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called `Jerry Smith' and he says I'm going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?"

That statement by Johnson is just incontrovertibly false.  Before Obama won Iowa, he was losing amongst black, sometimes by a 2-1 margin.

He did NOT start this race with an overwhelming advantage amongst black voters.

I'm still not clear on why Clinton would campaign with Bob Johnson.  He made his billion by offering up the worse Black Culture has to offer, and propping up televangelists on late night TV taking advantage of poor people.  He has spent the last 8 years as one of Bush's chief operatives within the Black Community.  He worked for the WH against the inheritance tax, calling it "racists" when only 57 black families payed it two years ago.  Then he moved his attack to social security.  

Why is the scum introducing Clinton?

would Hillary even still be running if her own demographic, white women, weren't supporting her so strongly? What do her results look like when you factor out the white women? Is it therefore fair to say that wihtout demographic affinity, Hillary Clinton would not be where she is today?

APESHEET: You're fairly critical of most black popular culture. Why do you hate Puffy and B.E.T. so much?

MCGRUDER: B.E.T. may be the worst thing to happen to black people since Jimmy Walker. I'm a big fan of hip-hop culture, but B.E.T. is only exploiting the culture and making the race look idiotic. It's all bitches and hoes and grandiose jewelry and fancy cars.

he'd be a better version of Bill Clinton in 1992 and he would have the nomination already.

It wasn't just that Ferrarro said that he wouldn't be winning as much of the black vote but that she said he wouldn't be doing as well period that pisses me off. And then you go back and see that she said the same thing about Jesse Jackson in 1988. I find it hard to believe that Geraldine Ferrarro actually thinks that being an African American candidate is an advantage in the modern American political landscape. I don't know the story behind Bob Johnson's remarks but I do know that Geraldine Ferraro has become an embarrasment to the Democratic Party.

I do hope that you know which Bob Johnson that your referring to.  This is the same Bob Johnson who spent 2005 trying to convince black voters that Bush's plan for screwing up Social Security was a great idea that was in their best interest.  Also the same Bob Johnson who tried to convince black voters that the "Death tax" was holding African-American voters down despite the fact that except for him, 95% wouldn't be affected.  The same Bob Johnson who just 3 short years ago tried to start a summit whose mission statement was about blacks having "more cooperation with Republicans, or at least, less friendship toward Democrats,"  This is also the same Bob Johnson who is as or more responsible than any single human-being for the rise of "Gangsta Rap" and its resulting cultural decay through his reckless use of BET, a channel for black people without so much a whiff of responsible programming except for a few reruns of Good Times.

Side with Bob Johnson because something he says is convenient to your cause, but you should be willing to spell it out more in your diary.  Bob Johnson has proven himself over the last 2 decades as a greedy, extremely economically-conservative, irresponsible Republican who couldn't care one bit about progressive causes, the Democratic party, civil-rights or the uplifting of African-Americans or their culture.  Use him to score some points, but know that some of us have more principles than to use somebody who isn't on our side (ie Chris Matthews, Bill Kristol, Fox News or others) just to score some points against Hillary.

And I would have written this same post in 2006 before their was even an Obama-Clinton race to speak of.

Most African Americans look at Bob Johnson as the man responsible for perpetuating some of the worst stereotypes about AA's through BET. He was a sympathetic figure until BET decided it was going to ghettoize everything about Black culture until it became a parody of itself.

Secondly, he is an idiot considering that Obama did not come into the race with 90% support among AA's. Remember he was losing among Blacks in the beginning.

So basically both of your points amount to a hill of beans.

"*UPDATE: It would be helpful if Obama supporters would concentrate less on Bob Johnson's personal failings as a human being, and more on the issue of whether Obama is leading Clinton because he is black, or because he is more qualified and more deserving of the Presidency. *"

Well then make it your own opinion instead of quoting an unmitigated jackass like Bob Johnson.  Call it "What happens when PJ Jefferson Tells the Truth?"

I think you are missing the boat on why Obama is doing well.  I had a diary about this a few days ago.  Congressional Democrats have an approval rating of 23% right now.  People instinctively know that the political system is essentially non-functional at the moment.  You could even call these people bitter.

What Barack Obama brings is a breath of fresh air to politics.  People like him precisely because he doesn't have the vaunted experience that is supposed to make strong candidates.  George Bush brought one of the most qualified teams to the White House and we all saw what that brought us.  

Hillary, rightly or wrongly, is also associated with some of the political failings of the last eight years.  She is seen as a Washington insider.  Sorry, that's just the way it is.

Finally, you can't overlook the tremendous campaign Obama's team has run.  He was trailing Hillary by approximately 30% last November.  Unless there was a tremendous spike in white guilt (or black pride) in the last five months, something else must be at work here.  Obama has been able to weather to "vetting" (read: attack) process the Clintons tell us is so important.  He demonstrated pretty amazing political deftness by turning the Wright contraversey (sp?) into a political win.

So, is he really the candidate which embodies "the soft bigotry of low expectations"?  You tell me.

... a better candidate who has run a better campaign  than Clinton.

But perhaps that's too obvious.

Your update memo is even more inflammatory than the original comments being discussed. Why would anyone think that being black in America would be an ADVANTAGE in a national race for Presidency? Obviously it is not hampering Obama particularly given the fact that he is on the verge of securing a major party endorsement for PResident, but how is it an advantage for him? This is patently ridiculous.

would you rather Black people didn't vote?