One question:
If Bill Clinton thinks that Barack Obama's campaign is like Jesse Jackson's campaign in 1984 and 1988, does he also think that Hillary's campaign is like Dukakis' and Mondale's?
In both 1984 *AND* 1988, Jesse Jackson's loss of the party nominations led to a dramatic increase in black voter apathy in the general elections, both for Michael Dukakis and for Walter Mondale... and neither Mondale or Dukakis engaged in the Clinton's racebaiting. So why should any of us assume that Hillary Clinton will be able to get justifiably angry and disillusioned black voters out to vote for her?
In May 1988, in the run-up to the general election, Michael Dukakis was on the top of the world. The economy was in a recession, Reagan's approval rating was at 42% due to Iran-Contra, and Dukakis had a 49% - 39% advantage over George Bush, Sr. according to the New York Times. Republicans were defecting to the Democrats, with 28 percent of those who said they voted for President Reagan in 1984 indicating that they preferred Michael Dukakis over Vice President Bush.
Michael Dukakis chose Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate, despite the fact that polls indicated that having Jesse Jackson as a running mate would increase his share of the vote by an additional 3%.
If Dukakis did have an extra 3% or so in the general election, the following states would've either been in his column or too close to predict: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Vermont.
The moral: Black voters matter... as do energized younger voters. Without them, it's very hard to win, not just in the southern states, but across many other states too, where they oftentimes make the very thin margin between victory and defeat.
It's not mentioned very often, but both black political volunteers and students often tend to be disproportionately active in doing a lot of the phonework and footwork for our party that others in our party all too often look down upon.
We can't afford another Dukakis or Mondale-style loss... and we can't afford another Clinton.
