Obama vs. Clinton

Who didn’t see this one coming?
by Charlie Leck [24 April 2007]

The New York Times of this morning portrays a worried Hillary Clinton campaign organization. Barack Obama is making in-roads. A bit of a political fight is on. The Clintons are bringing out the big guns now to try to hold on to a black vote that has been extremely loyal in the past. It is clear there is now a little leakage. I think Senator Clinton is making a mistake. It is the white vote she should try to secure; for, Senator Obama is gaining popularity very quickly among mainstream americans. There are several polls that show this. He is bringing a sense of freshness and newness to politics. He isn’t the same old, same old. His weakness, of course, is that very newness – called inexperience.

I remain convinced that the Democratic Party has three extremely good candidates in position. The most horrible thing they can do now is to begin a mean fight within the party for control. They’ll knock each other off to the delight of Republicans. So far, Senator Clinton has been very wise in continuing to praise Obama and to keep ties close. He could be a solid Vice Presidential running mate who she would be crazy to discard.

The front page of the New York Times this morning showed the black leadership, which has been so committed and loyal to Bill Clinton, rallying around Senator Clinton. Jesse Jackson was there. So was the ever-present Al Sharpton. Charlie Rangel wasn’t in the photograph, but he is working New York City’s black leadership, trying to hold on to their support.

The amazing part of this story, and I urge you to read it at http://www.nytimes.com/ is that Obama has not really campaigned in New York and hasn’t worked to tie down support among black leadership. Nevertheless, Obama is being watched very carefully and people are keeping open minds.