Raising Race

Purpose Statement

Topic Sentence: When Hillary says “experience,” some people hear race

-- By AdamCarlis - 18 Feb 2008

Introduction

Part 1: By speaking broadly about her experience, people are left wondering what it means

• She purposefully uses platitudes because everyone likes “experience” but some might not like her experience
  • Voters associate Bush with inexperience and that inexperience with severe costs to the country
• Other authors have pointed out the her experience leaves much to be desired, forcing her, instead of speaking in specifics, to speak broadly.

Part 2: Race has been explicitly raised by her campaign, opening up the door for connections between her other appeals and a racial appeal

• Her supporters are predisposed to hearing such arguments (white, poorly educated)
• The media continues to play up the race issue to a point where it is near central to the campaign.
• Highlighting Obama’s inexperience can be likened to calling him a “boy”.

Part 3: This has little effect on her actual campaign

• True racists wouldn’t support her
• She has already lost the black vote
• Only benefit may be the comfort level increase from white voters that she gets anyway when showing her face

Part 4: Because it is no harm/no foul, she doesn’t have to do much about it now, but may need to do damage control in the black and anti-racist white community should she win the primary

Conclusion

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