A Race About Race

"That said, all this really just hurts the party. If you were cynical, you could argue that the Clintons have an interest in keeping this going beyond South Carolina, for the reasons just mentioned. But any benefit Hillary would reap from racial division in the primaries could be pretty costly in the general."

Is the race-based sparring overshadowing everything else? Salon's Walter Shapiro says that may be happening:

"The problem is that with a dizzying two dozen primaries scheduled between now and Feb. 5, the Democrats run the risk of having the emotionally charged issues of race and gender dominate all other concerns in choosing a presidential nominee. The problems facing the next occupant of the Oval Office range from nukes in Pakistan to neighbors packing because their mortgage has been foreclosed. Yet the political news of the last week for Democrats has revolved around Obama's debate crack that his opponent is 'likable enough,' Clinton's battle with tears on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, and the skirmishing over Martin Luther King's legacy."

Pouring fuel on the fire was Bob Johnson, the man behind Black Entertainment Television, who said this over the weekend:

"And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood -- and I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in the book -- when they have been involved."

Gee, I wonder what he could have been referring to. Johnson later said in a statement he was referring to Obama's community organizing. Sure.

Riehl World View blames HRC:

"Hillary pulls a reverse Sister Souljah . . . as BET founder Robert Johnson on the stump with Hillary plays the drug card against Obama. It'll make news, which will cut right into one Democrat demographic Hillary captured in New Hampshire, one she desperately needs - white blue collar union types, otherwise known as Reagan Democrats with no love for BET. And plenty of blacks, who have a high rate of church attendance, are likely to be unimpressed.

"It's desperation time for Hillary. They found a black surrogate to play the drug card and hopefully prevent more criticism for its being a racial attack. Still, I don't think it'll play, except perhaps on BET. And, honestly, how many BET fans are going to bail on Obama because he may have done a little coke back in the day?"

At Americablog, John Aravosis sees Johnson's remarks as part of an orchestrated assault:

"I hate to be constantly harping on Hillary because I'll be happy regardless of who gets the nomination on our side (and I still harbor concerns about how well Obama will fight back against the GOP machine in the general election). But. I have a hard time watching the Clinton folks beat the crap out of Obama with personal attacks, then deny it . . .

"Right. Because Obama's work as a community organizer would be something so horrible, so nasty, that Johnson simply couldn't mention it in polite company. Give me a break. We all know what Johnson was doing, he was launching the same personal attack on Obama that numerous other Clinton campaign workers have launched. I'm really astounded that the Clinton people are interested in dredging up dirty laundry about Obama because there's an awful lot of dirty laundry to go around, some of it fresh. I suspect the Clinton people are counting on Obama being too nice to 'go there.' They'd better hope they're right, because they keep opening the door, and some day Obama might finally walk through."