Blacks Still Stinging After Bill Clinton's Obama Remarks

Just how badly did Bill Clinton hurt his wife's cause with black voters? Pretty badly, based on these comments from Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The nation's first elected black governor said Saturday he is not ready to excuse comments former President Bill Clinton made about Barack Obama.

In campaigning for his wife last month on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Clinton called Obama's opposition to the Iraq war "a fairy tale." Clinton suggested Obama had toned down his early anti-war fervor during his 2004 Senate campaign.

"Barack Obama is not a fairy tale. He is real," former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder told reporters at a Democratic fundraiser as the former president spent the day campaigning for Hillary Rodham Clinton in Richmond and three other Virginia cities.

The grandson of slaves, who was elected in 1989 in what was once the Confederate capital, endorsed Obama last month. Now Richmond's mayor, Wilder's comments still get the attention of the state's black voters, though his influence has waned since he left office 15 years ago.

Clinton also implied that an Obama victory in South Carolina would amount to a reward based on race, like the Rev. Jesse Jackson's 20 years earlier.

Wilder said the former president's comments stung him and other black voters and diminished their respect for Clinton.

"It's not just me (who) feels that; any number of people feel that," Wilder said. "A time comes and a time goes. The president has had his time."

Ouch. This could help explain why blacks in some states turned out better than 80% for Obama in yesterday's races.

I heard an interesting statistic the other day, called the 15/50 rule. So far, and the numbers seem to bear this out, Obama has done very well in states where the black percentage of the Democratic vote is either under 15% or over 50%. In the latter case you can expect identity politics to help him as blacks vote for "their guy". In the former, racial issues are not a big deal in those states and voters tend to go for the candidate based on qualifications or other factors.

For the middle group, the 15%-50% states, racial issues are bigger factors in everyday life and those voters tended to support Hillary over Obama. It's an interesting theory.

I'll talk about this subject and more on Monday's BlogTalkRadio program which you can hear by clicking on the icon. Feel free to call in and join the conversation. The show kicks off at 8pm PT Monday night.

I've expanded Monday's show to 45 minutes to give us plenty of time. The call-in number will be (347) 347-5547.