Not surprisingly, again, the talk about the Obama/Clinton campaigns was front and center in the Sunday News Shows. On virtually every show I saw, which included "Chris Matthews," "Meet the Press," "ABC Sunday Morning," and "Face the Nation," the one common thread, which I think does tell you something about where the real pressure points of the campaigns are at a particular moment, was Clinton's quote about how she was carrying the "white, hard-working" citizens that were critical to a Democratic victory in the general election and how Obama couldn't carry them in numbers sufficient to win the general election.

I heard that quote played on virtually every show. The pundits were pretty unanimous that this wasn't good. Most of them, like me, were befuddled as to what Clinton was trying to do with such a statement. I mean, in reality, I am one of these “hard working white” working class folks. I live in a very conservative part of the country. I know exactly the emotional base that Clinton is aiming toward, and it blows me away, (1) that she is actually creating this persona that says that she is one of “us,” and (2) that she has been able to paint Obama as being an “elitist,” out of touch person who doesn’t understand and care about our issues. What an illusionist!

Before I go into this brief explanation as to why I’m so befuddled, let me say that I do respect Sen. Clinton and realize she is one tough cookie. She has been in the spotlight for so long that she has come to be kind of numb to it. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You need someone that isn’t overcome by their celebrity, and allows that to outweigh all other considerations in making big decisions.

But, at one point in my young life, I spent several months living in suburban Chicago not far from Maine East HS near Des Plaines, a suburb NW of Chicago. To me, after graduating from a small, rural HS in southern Illinois, with a graduating class of 64, to drive by Maine East was like driving by a college campus. It was hard for me to imagine going to a place like that. This was in the early 1980s. You have to understand that this suburban area was pretty well to do, and pretty white. Hillary was long gone from Maine East by then.

It was only until years later I would find out , when a friend told me that she had gone to Maine East HS and had known of Ms. Clinton, that Hillary Clinton was actually a native of Illinois like me . That’s how I learned that Clinton had gone to Maine East. No doubt, Clinton (or Rodham at the time) came from a family that had some money. Perhaps not big time rich but certainly with white advantage and at least fairly well to do. I mean, there probably was no doubt that she would have the opportunity to go to a good college, and Maine East is a well to do HS with a lot of the advantages in terms of equipment and opportunities for learning compared to many of the HSs in Illinois. I don’t believe Ms. Clinton had a lot of contact with the “hard working, white” working class Americans she now is claiming to be the spokesperson for. On the other hand, Obama was raised in the working class, and not only that, but he was in that class as a bi-racial. There is no doubt that Obama has had more experience in dealing with being from the working classes that are economically and socially disadvantaged than Clinton has. For her to both be touting her experience and her connection to the white working class is a contradiction. She has little if any experience being a part of the working class.

On the other hand, Obama is a bi-racial, who lived in a family that sounds to me like wasn’t nearly on the economic level as the Rodham’s were in the Maine East suburban school district. With Obama’s experience as growing up without lots of money, and -having gone through what undoubtedly was hard times dealing with his being bi-racial, there is no doubt that on a practical level Obama has to have more connection and experience with how us in a certain income level live. So how did Clinton create this illusion? She did it by being white. At least that’s what it appears like, and with her recent comments, combined with some of her husband’s unfortunately comments on the campaign trail, it adds serious credence to those that are believing that the Clinton’s are using race to gain political advantage.

That is what the general perception on the campaign trail by the pundits has been. This latest comment by Clinton only emphasizes that at a time when Democratic leadership is trying to get past that. So it is hard to understand why the Clinton’s would make such statements. And, the fact that the so called “working class white” demographic is going for Clinton only shows that a subtly racist base appeal does work with a lot of this group.

The problem with Clinton’s approach, though, from a party perspective, and from a reality perspective, is that if Clinton weren’t there, Obama would have a direct conversation with them, and there wouldn’t be this “white” intermediary that this demographic can conveniently deflect to avoid dealing directly with racial prejudice. So Clinton is using this to gain influence in order to have leverage in the final outcome. But what a low level appeal, and not based on fact at all. But unfortunately, many of the people in my demographic find it an easy appeal to give into.