If we grant that Penn, Carville, Ickes, and the Clintons themselves are
political geniuses, it follows that there must be some intelligent
strategy behind their divisive actions. There has to be a bit more than
destroying all the other candidates and rallying everybody under the
"Vote Hillary - you have no alternative!" banner. Yeah, I know, there's"Vote Hillary, or you're against women's rights, you rat," but that's not
enough to put Hillary over the top.

Puny-minded folks like me
don't see how the Democratic candidate can win without blacks in
Hillary's case and without women in Obama's case. So I've assumed the
Clinton strategists think blacks will come crawling back to vote for
Hillary because - ta da! - they will have no alternative. Only it's
asking a lot for black folks and lots of others to forget having such a
great alternative right before our eyes for so long.

I think
it's so clear the geniuses are wrong about hanging onto the black vote
that I'm beginning to wonder if they're not making a
mistake, they're just a couple of steps ahead of everybody else.

What if
Clinton strategists have decided it's time for the Democratic Party to
ignore the black minority in political calculations? Not to expel
blacks, of course, or to say blacks are unwelcome, just to make
campaign decisions without regard to black opinion. Not to send Hillary
to Philadelphia, Mississippi to extol states rights. Nothing that
crass. Just going with the numbers.

After all, blacks are a
shrinking percentage of the population - a mere 12.8%. Supporting
pro-black positions is a handicap for the party -- too many unpopular
positions like affirmative action and busing repel more than 12.8%
of the population. We'll remain committed to equal rights, of course, but be
quietly effective instead of so all-fired loud and moralistic about it
all. Besides, if you don't win, you can't do a thing about equality,
can you?

If it's not a new Southern + rural Midwest + iron belt + middle PA strategy, I'd be grateful to
anyone who reveals the gem of rationality behind the apparent train
wreck that is the Clinton campaign.