The explanation is clear. Senator Clinton, as was the case with her husband before her, is furiously moving toward the political center and redefining herself as a moderate. In her announced program there is not even a dollop of written concern for guarding or advancing the aspirations of blacks and other minorities. The reason is that many of her most important voting constituencies are unfriendly to efforts to help blacks. Many of the groups on whom she depends for a successful run for the presidency tend to be conservative on racial issues. They include white ethnics, farmers, union leaders, small business owners, blue-collar workers, conservative Democrats, white parents of public school children, and that very large group of voters called Reagan Democrats. Jewish interests that have suffered in the past from the burden of restrictive racial quotas are especially hostile to most government programs targeted to assist blacks. 

It’s safe to say, too, that many white Americans, who are at the core of the Clinton pool of voters, believe that many of the problems of blacks are self-inflicted. They tend to the view that government programs to help blacks are ineffective and a waste of money. Many among Clinton’s likely supporters consider that antipoverty programs, even when cast as racially neutral, are really black programs in disguise. True, it is acceptable to Clinton voters for the senator publicly to empathize with the severe problems of black America. But any explicit program that spends public money to help blacks always has the potential to severely damage her chances for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. In short, the leaders of the Clinton campaign appear to believe that if she announces any form of a black program, she kills the support of voters she needs.

Now let’s turn to the platform of Senator Obama. His campaign Web site, published on the Internet for all to see, bears down hard on all of the major issues of concern to blacks. These include fighting poverty, improving our schools, voting rights and election reform. Unlike Clinton, he outlines a comprehensive program to reduce poverty, revitalize America’s urban areas, and empower black Americans.

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