Thursday, January 10, 2008

Campaign Thoughts   [Victor Davis Hanson]

1. "He has to win....(fill in the state)."

That tired convention has become meaningless—a pundit toss-away line that means nothing this early in a multi- primary campaign, when ebb and flow affects everyone. No one at this very early point "has to win" any given state at any given time. Candidates are still picked not by media people, but by the aggregate number of delegates.

And even the money spigot doesn't completely stop after a second place finish. Romney was right to count his delegates won thus far, and to think absurd the notion that after two years of work he is supposed to implode because he didn't win tiny Iowa or New Hampshire  when the mega-states are still in play.

2. Is the new Obama slogan, "Yes, we can!" just a rehashed translation of the old Cesar Chavez/UFW's ¡Sí, Se Puede! that was resurrected prominently in the May-Day open borders demonstrations of the last few years? That hardly seems "change," but more retro-1960s agit-prop.

3.We know that gifted African-American conservatives, from Justice Thomas to Thomas Sowell, have been long demonized by liberals, in part because the liberal white elite was largely irrelevant to their views,careers-and success.

But would happens when a talented African-American like Barrack Obama has an independent voice and base, and carves out his own political future, and without the usual liberal hierarchy to sanction his career?

We've not quite seen that before, since  a Jackson and Sharpton weren't serious people, with enormous problems of temperament, education, and political savvy. But Obama?

He's clearly as good a speaker as they come, as bright or brighter than Hillary, and understands American politics in a way reflective of someone 50-60 with decades more experience. So what will the Clintons do about that? We will soon learn — but already from bits and pieces that leak out, and Bill's harangues, we are beginning to sense some of the same patronizing and resentment that heretofore was reserved only for conservative blacks. I would expect the Clintons will bite their lip and then adopt  the "we have to destroy the black candidate to save the black vote" mentality.

01/10 05:17 PMShare