Pamela Gentry, BET.com
- It’s too bad Sen. Hillary Clinton didn’t bow out of the race graciously Tuesday night by congratulating her opponent and leading the squabbling Democratic Party on the path toward unity. By prolonging the inevitable, she has managed to tarnish her name, raise more questions about her motives and leave her loyal Black lawmakers standing out in the cold.
Clinton’s image in the Black community was once that of a beloved political figure who cared for and understood the plight of Black America. But after her resounding defeat in South Carolina to Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton started making her appeal to “White working-class voters.” Those comments became the theme for her campaign. It sounded as if the panicky candidate had abandoned her interest in the Black vote altogether, for fear that she’d lose fellow Whites to her African-American opponent.
