Clinton electability cover - elitism or racism

For Democrats, Questions Over Race and Electability - Kudos, Times. You finally noticed, with some prompting from As Good As News and the Obama campaign, that winning Democratic primaries in key states has nothing to do with winning the general election in key states. In fact Obama polls better against McCain than Clinton does in some of the very swing states that Clinton is using to bolster her electability argument. You finally noticed that the real electability argument is about race - if Obama can't win in November its because the White, blue -collar vote that turns out for Hillary in the primaries will vote for McCain or stay home in November, rather than vote for a Black candidate with the same Senate voting record and views as Hillary.

What happens if Hillary wins big in Indiana and breaks even in North Carolina? Will the super delegates begin to migrate to Hillary, even though she would still be behind in elected delegates and vote totals, because they buy into the argument that America won't vote for a Black President?

Obama's remarks about bitter people clinging to guns and religion may end up hurting him badly. It's not that these remarks say anything critical about his capability as President. The problem for Obama is that the remarks give Clinton cover to argue that Obama can't get blue-collar Whites to the polls in November because he's an elitist snob, without having to openly argue that he's not electable because of his race.

Garbage to the Rescue - Carlos Castillo paused at the window, his apartment a flaming inferno at his back, his neighbors gathered on the sidewalk three stories below. "Hold on" shouted the neighbors, as they gathered bags of garbage left at curbside awaiting pick-up. The garbage became a mound below the window, Castillo jumped - and wound up alive, though seriously hurt. As Good As News loves NY, there's always garbage when you really need it.

Mayor Lends Ear as Verdict Near in Bell Shooting -Sadly, today's on-line Times does not include the page B-6 photo of Mayor Bloomberg looking scared and desperate to escape as the Reverend Al Sharpton grabs his hand and poses on the steps of City Hall. Reverend Al has positioned himself as both the defender of the Bell family and a keeper of the peace - who can still erupt in rage tomorrow if he doesn't hear the verdict he wants. The Mayor gave Reverend Al a voice and he shrewdly used it to capture a can't lose position, regardless of the verdict. The Mayor looks like he has begun to realize this. Maybe he's thinking he should have learned something from Rudy, who would have met with Sharpton only after hell had frozen over.