Who Doesn't Like Obama?

                      


 By Florida Bill

                              In South Carolina, with its large African- American population,  Democratic candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seem to believe that if you dare to criticize the sitting president in the least little bit, you will pay the price in lost votes. 

                               That was a "low blow," lamented socialist Sanders, during a recent debate when Clinton accused him of having called Obama "weak" and a "disappointment" in his governing over the past seven years.  The debate is one of several between Sanders and Clinton who are seeking to become their party's nominee in next November's presidential election.

                               It was like a fighter in the ring who is struck with an illegal blow below the belt. Remember how Rocky was shaken when the Russian champion struck him savagely in a way not allowed in the Marquess of Queensberry rules. The referee screamed and there was a delay and the emotional crowds alternately booed and cheered.  And then the bout continued.

                               Without wasting any time,  Clinton hit him again, accusing Sanders of  denigrating remarks about President Obama which "is what I might expect from the GOP."  Her blast at Sanders was steeped in determination to hit him as hard as she knew how.  It was classic Hillary with her artificial gritty smile and extended fist, figuring that she was attracting African-American support. 

                                 Attempting to recover from the devastating blow, Sanders avowed that he had always been a supporter of Obama and had worked with him on fine tuning Obamacare, and in many other ways. He had met with him in the White House on occasion.    Obama liked him too, he said, because the President on one occasion came to Vermont to assist him in his campaign for re-election.

                                 Clinton fired two more zingers.  Sanders, she charged,  had said that race relations will be better under his (Sanders) administration, than Obama's.  Also, he had the audacity to criticize the president in a note praising a book critical of Obama, authored by Bill Press.  Sanders had a wounded expression wondering how the "Secretary" could make these cutting charges in this campaign which he is conducting "without personal animosity," and is on the issues which Americans care about.  She was being anything but ethical, and Sanders appeared truly hurt. 
                                  Sanders has continued to boast in TV interviews that he was an active supporter of civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s, but a strong member of Congress, Rep John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights legend, contradicts his claim and says, "I never met Sanders" in those racially-tense years.  To counter that criticism, Sanders has enlisted the support of Rep. Keith Ellison, a Black Minnesota congressman and one of two Muslims in congress, to vouch for his claims of concern for all African Americans, but it is questionable whether that will resonate with Black voters.  

                                  There are many African Americans in South Carolina who believe that Obama has been the worst president in the history of the United States.  He has brought disrespect to America and eviscerated the military, so that its readiness is equivalent to what it was prior to the beginning of World War II.  He has ignored the plight of Christians and speaks in reverence of Muslims whom he contends have made contributions to American society.   He has allowed sanctuary cities to exist and has looked on passively as America's borders remain wide open allowing drug cartels and criminals and anyone else who wants to enter America come in and receive "free stuff."  He has declined to call out "radical Islam" for its savagery and he says nothing as American corporations abandon the United States in favor of other countries.

                                   Officials in South Carolina,  including  Gov.Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen Tim Scott, an African-American, have been consistent critics of President Obama and his administration.  Who knows what the effect of Sanders' criticism of President Obama will be.  He may well have attracted a whole lot of new votes.     

                              

                                                                           XXX