Racists don't like being called racists.

The election is becoming the most racially divisive in my memory.

It turns out the election of Barrack Obama did not end racism in our country.   It may have brought long-submerged issues closer to the surface.

Donald Trump moved from entertainer to politician by advancing the theory that President Obama was essentially illegitimate as president.  He wasn't really an American, he wasn't born in Hawaii, he was secretly a Muslim, and he was not legally our president.

Some things should not be said aloud

In August of this year a poll of Republican voters showed 72% questioned whether Obama was really born in Hawaii as his birth certificate and other evidence shows.   Fully 41% say they do not think he is actually an American.   Trump's association with the birther movement did its work delegitimizing Obama and he is now attempting to back away from birtherism, since it now feeds the meme of "crazy-Trump" rather than "truth teller-Trump".   It could work out well for Trump.  Plant the seed that a black president is a fraud, then once the seed of doubthas sprouted, at a late moment saying "never mind", getting credit for being magnanimous and reasonable.

But the birther poll shows that racial resentment and suspicion by white Republicans is still out there and very significant in rank and file voters.   The assertion that racism and misogyny still exist are in the center of Hillary's campaign theme.   She represents the victim of those attitudes:  women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, as well as educated white men who have adjusted to the global economy.

Yesterday Hillary said, at a fundraiser, that the Trump coalition included people who are "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.   There are people like that and he has lifted them up."  

Trump has said things which are--according to Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan--"textbook racism".  Trump won the Republican nomination by saying things aloud that polite Republican orthodoxy said should only be hinted at.   He called Mexicans criminals and rapists.  He said a federal judge of Mexican extraction could not serve impartially.  This did not destroy his candidacy.   Many Trump supporters agree with Trump.

Fox/Trump protests

But it does not mean that Hillary did not make a gaffe.  A gaffe is not defined as an untruth.  A gaffe is accidentally telling the truth, but one if, when uttered, causes a problem because it is a truth that can not be acknowledged.    

Trump is openly appealing to white resentment.  He defeated Republican opponents who said clearly and repeatedly that Trump was openly appealing to white resentment and prejudice.  Voters chose Trump, not the alternatives.

Hillary made a gaffe when she said half of Trump's supporters are prejudiced, and it was a mistake even if the 72%-birther poll is anywhere near correct.  Racists don't want racism rubbed in their faces.   Truth is not a defense, and indeed it is an aggravating element of the political crime.   Fat people do not want to be called fat, especially if they are objectively, measurably obese with a BMI of 40. 

In fact, the great whale just under the surface of Trump's success is the truth inside Hillary Clinton's assertion: there is a lot of racism and misogyny in the American voter. Not everyone, of course, but lots of people.  Trump denies it and then exploits it.

Hillary should not have said half of Trump's voters are racist.  She should have said that a few of his voters are racist and that Trump has put in his lot with them, shame on him.   But she muffed this one.  She said shame on you, or at least many of you.   Mistake.

[Wait!  There's more!  If you are reading this on an I-pad or full size screen, you will se a panel on the right with an archive of posts, plus links to a podcast that I uploaded, "Two Left Eyes."   Attorney Thad Guyer and I have a back and forth discussion of the polls and messaging as it relates to Hillary and Trump.   We try to be objective, and our objective assessment is not good for Hillary.  If you listen to podcasts try downloading this to a device then giving us a shot.  People viewing the "Mobile View" of this blog can use this link to Two Left Eyes right here:    Click Here]