In the wake of Hillary Clinton's 2-1 thrashing in South Carolina at the hands of the politician I typically refer to as BOOHOO (Barack O-bomba Overseas Hussein “Obambi” Obama), the spin from Mrs. Clinton's husband is that it has no more significance than Jesse Jackson's Palmetto State victories in 1984 and 1988.
Kausfiles blogger Mickey Kaus shows that the claim doesn't stand up to scrutiny (links and bolds are in original):
Obama got about a quarter (24%) of the white vote, according to exit polls.
..... Update: Alert emailer L finds the following in a Christian Science Monitor story from March 17, 1988: Although Jackson's white support was significantly higher in South Carolina than in 1984 - it is estimated this year at between 5 and 10 percent of the voters - he has not made much headway with populist, blue-collar whites ...
24% vs. 5-10%. It looks as if Bill Clinton's comparison will not work to his wife's advantage.... More: Tom Maguire asks the same question and gets the same answer, from an old New York Times story. The "5 percent to 10 percent" estimate of the white vote for Jackson seems to come from "party leaders."
As a clarification, the reason the Times got the 1988 information from "party leaders" is that, at least per Wikipedia, South Carolina was a Democratic caucus state in 1988. The Times's article further noted that Jackson received almost no white support in 1984.
Will Old Media outlets note the, ahem, vast white discrepancy between what Bill Clinton is claiming and the truth?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
