The battles of the post-JFK mid-1960s were largely fought between the far left and the not-as-far-left: Democrats controlled all three branches of government, but the new left hated LBJ, hated the older generation of New Deal-minted liberals, and hated South Vietnam. The result was a–literally–bloody election year in 1968, and when Richard Nixon returned to the national spotlight as the candidate of law and order, he narrowly won over Johnson surrogate Hubert Humphrey.
In a much quieter fashion than forty years ago, we’re seeing some of the same internecine struggles play out in this extended primary season between the far left Obama supporters, and the supporters of Hillary Clinton, who is cast in the role of the populist centralist. (If she actually won the nomination, and won in Novemer, she’d effectively govern much as Obama plans to, of course, because it takes a nanny state to control the village, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.)
Jim Geraghty, who in a previous post spots Joe Conason of Salon comparing Hillary to fellow Democrat George Wallace (just add it to this list), writes:
A note to add to this post: Saturday Night Live this weekend featured a faux-Hillary bragging to the superdelegates that the party had to nominate her over Obama, because “my supporters are racist.”
It’s become strikingly acceptable to declare Hillary’s voters racist lately, isn’t it?
Indeed it has. And it’s arguably a form of projection in a way, after Rev. Wright’s dramatic 15 minutes back in the spotlight a couple of weeks ago. As the Anchoress writes though:
Are Clintons racist? Nah, I don
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