Clinton's Color Barrier
May 8, 2008
"Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."
—Hillary Clinton, citing an Associated Press article during an interview with USA Today.
Critics charged that her comment exploited the racism of certain white communities, implying that caucasians are the only "hard-working" race and suggesting that Obama couldn't win white voters. The New York Times called it the lowest point of her campaign. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, would later commit a similar oratorical no-no when she praised rural voters in North Carolina for being part of "real America" and referring to certain regions of the country as "pro-America."