2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Mothers of slain men knock Sanders for 'ghetto' comment [View all]CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)They've been hammering this point on Bernie and repeating it--in various forms--for months.
I live in Iowa, and I heard this over and over and over. How my state of Iowa didn't count, because it wasn't diverse. "Sure Bernie is rising in popularity in Iowa, but his message won't appeal to black voters."
This started in the summer of 2015. And it was viciously hammered before Bernie even had a chance to introduce himself to Hispanics and the black community. HRC worked very hard on building this damaging narrative.
I got sick of Hillary Clinton stereotyping Iowans and people from NH as groups of white people who really didn't matter and that our thinking was somehow flawed. She was suggesting that, because we were white, that our views and who we were not reflective of the country as a whole. Or that we didn't have any connection with Hispanics, blacks or other minorities. It was so insulting!
I've been involved in Iowa politics for many years and with the Democratic party. The proudest and most memorable moment for me, was the night that Obama won the Iowa caucuses. He arrived in Iowa with about 10 percent support. Iowa is 97 percent white, but we did our due diligence and we got to know Barack Obama. We loved him. No one in the country had voted before us. He had no momentum. What he built here in Iowa was brick-by brick-support. I was so proud of my state for picking the best candidate.
It's very wrong to use states and races and stereotypes to build narratives so you can get your crown, Hillary!