Brazile: Nuts?

This confrontation between Paul Begala and Donna Brazile (who backs Obama) has been a topic of heated discussion for a while now. Earlier in the above face-off, Brazile said

“we don’t have to just rely on white blue-collar voters and Hispanics.”

Well, at least she did not call whites and Hispanics "racists."

Brazile, being black, is allowed to mention racial demographics, as Hillary is not. But is Brazile also allowed to distort the facts of history? When did the Democratic party rely on "just" those two groups? If she thinks that the party has such a history, then she has allowed her personal psychological issues to impair her ability to assess reality.

I was one of the first Democrats who are going to those white working class neighborhoods, encouraging white Democrats not to forget their roots. I’ve drank more beers with Joe six packs, Jane six pack and everybody else than most white Democrats that you’re talking about.

In terms of Hispanics, you know, Paul, I know the math. I know Colorado, I know Nevada, I know New Mexico. So that’s not the issue. I’m saying that we need to not divide and polarize the Democratic Party as if the Democratic Party will rely simply on white, blue collar male. You insult every black, blue-collar Democrat by saying that.

So stop the divisions. Stop trying to split us into these groups, Paul, because you and I both know we’ve been in more campaigns. We know how Democrats win. And to simply suggest that Hillary’s coalition is better than Obama’s, Obama is better than Hillary. No. We have a big party, Paul.

Lying, or self-delusion? I can't be certain. But I know this: We do have a smaller party now, thanks to one man: Barack Obama.

He shrank the party when he -- not his surrogates: The ultimate responsibility rests with him -- smeared the Clintons as racists.

That decision, like Bush's decision to invade Iraq, was a catastrophe without parallel. In both cases, a Big Damnfool Idea came to threaten the existence of a major political party.

I can guess why Obama did it: He was losing the black vote to Hillary, and that loss rankled. Quite understandably, he could not abide the "Is he black enough?" opinion pieces popping up in both African American and mainstream news organs.

Alas, he did not think through the consequences. He's a chess player who saw only the next move, when he should have seen the next ten.

When his forces spread the "darkened video" smear or the "fairy tale" smear, they managed to turn around black voters. But they also infuriated many non-blacks. Note that I said "non-blacks," instead of "whites": As most progressives forget, Hillary appeals to Hispanics and Asians, two groups which the left seems no longer to care about.

To repeat what I've said before:

As we have seen in many previous columns, the Clintons never -- ever -- used the race card. They had no reason to do so: Such a strategy would have no appeal to any segment of the Democratic electorate, and would serve only to alienate black voters and others. Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe accidentally deep-sixed the O-bot propaganda line when he confessed that no Democrats would make a decision to vote for a presidential candidate based on anti-black antipathy, because the racists all went over to the Republican side long ago.

Brazile is fooling herself if she underestimates the effects of Obama's Dubya-sized miscalculation.

I’m saying that we need to not divide and polarize the Democratic Party

Too late. Barack Obama did that. He should never have allowed his campaign to call the Clintons racist.

Ms. Brazile, you cannot sanction a political sin like that and then pretend that the other side is at fault.

Brazile became incensed by Begala's comment, but Begala got it exactly right. Progressives really do think that they can win by extending a big middle finger to anyone outside the African American/egghead coalition.

I'm rather well-educated myself, and my Dad was, literally, a rocket scientist. Truth be told, I'm the sort of "creative class" autodidact often associated with the Kos/Obama crowd.

But. My dad died before my seventh birthday, and the family soon had to survive on Social Security benefits.

Barack Obama wants to privatize Social Security, and he won't get rid of his Libertarian Cato Institute economic advisers. I think about that fact every day.

Which means, Ms. Brazile, that I am one impoverished, well-read white guy who does not want to share a beer with you or with any other O-Bot. I know my interests. I know my family history. I know that widows today face an even tougher challenge than my mother did back in the '60s and '70s. And I know that Dubya has proven that a Republican can never change Social Security, even when the GOP controls congress. But a Cato-friendly Democrat just might pull it off.

(These days, there's a lot of Libertarian thought peppering the progressive stew. Indeed, I'm now unsure where "progressive" ends and "Libertarian" begins.)

So, Ms. Brazile, if you want to call me a racist when I'm concerned for my class -- then go ahead and do so. Obama supporters are pleased to think that they can seduce me by insulting me. When their candidate loses, I shall be merciless in my schadenfreude.

Until then, I would prefer not to hoist a glass with someone who thinks that he or she is slumming. Obama supporters drink fancy wines, not beer -- and they do not represent me.

PS: A friend to this blog thinks "Barky" is too harsh a nickname for Obama. I think the nick is, if anything, too cute and endearing -- especially when compared to "Hitlery." Your reaction?