Squaring the Culture

Andrew Sullivan published a fascinating letter from one of his readers on The Daily Dish of The Atlantic.com:

After years of loyal reading I finally understand your distaste for all things Clinton.

I live in Las Vegas, Saturday was my first caucus. I went to support Obama, requiring changing registration from independent to Democrat. I brought 18 voters including friends and family. All Obama supporters. Early in the campaign most of us thought we’d hope for Obama now and still vote for Hillary in November if she wins the nomination. Not now. No chance. We got the Barack-bashing phone calls. We got bullied by out-of-state Hillary workers at the caucus site telling us we were “on the dark side of the party”. We’ve seen Bill Clinton all over the local news looking more like a Karl Rove political hack than a distinguished former president. We’ve seen them try to destroy the local party and unions. In the fall if she’s on the ballot it’s not just blacks who will stay home. I know 19 white people who showed up today but won’t be there in the general election. And if we do it’ll be for McCain or Bloomberg.

“On the dark side of the party.” I’ll remember this for a long time. Here’s what it says:

• Democrats believe Democrats are racists. After all these years of hearing how all Republicans are racist but Democrats are not, we now know they’re lying; they believe their own are racist as well. (They’re wrong about most Republicans, though, and probably about their own, too.)
• Some Democrats have no trouble using this alleged racism to get elected.

The election food fight among the Democrats probably won’t hurt them all that much in the fall; voters have short memories. The Clintons know this, and count on it. But what better way to celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King than to expose how Democrats still love racial politics?

If I were Mitt Romney’s or John McCain’s campaign manager, I might just be arranging meetings with leaders in the black community right now.