Hillary Clinton and the black vote

Hillary Clinton may have made a major gaffe in her attempt to erode support for Obama's message of hope. My understanding of the demographics of the democratic voter breakdown is that many black voters are holding back support for Obama until they believe he is widely accepted as a viable candidate.

If the pundits are correct and Hillary Clinton is pulling a large section of the black vote, then this might be a huge blow to her. I cannot imagine even those most removed from the Civil Rights movement would not be a little offended by the rhetoric that 'It took a president to get it done' in reference to Dr. King's dream. Sure the public is fickle, and President Johnson deserves more credit than he gets, but last I checked there was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, not President Johnson day. Its a delicate balance for Senator Clinton: she has to be strong without looking like a... uh... let's say 'witch', she wants to run on experience (which is important) when the electorate seems to be clamoring for change. I'd almost feel empathy for her and her claims of media bias if she didn't have weasels like Paul Begala and James Carville stumping for her once a week for the past 2-3 years.

In a related note, it looks like Claire McCaskill from the fair state of Missouri, may be ready to support Obama.