Hillary's Devoting Significant Attention to Black Victims of Violence

I'm you're looking to have your breath taken away by some stories of the real people behind political posturing, well, feast your eyes on this New York Times article about Hillary Clinton's relationship with the mothers of black victims of violence.

The whole profile reads like it was arranged by the Clinton campaign, and it almost definitely was — access journalism like this doesn't happen by accident, but by the elaborate stage management of advertising professionals. Still, it's hard to doubt the sincerity of Clinton's interest and sympathy for the suffering endured by the mothers of kids who've been gunned down.

In the article by Amy Chozick, we see Clinton at her most human, albeit from a distance. Hillary herself never speaks, which is probably as it should be: This is about the voices of women fighting for justice, and Hillary's willingness to listen. The article opens with the candidate holding a private dinner with the moms that stretched on for hours.

Sanda Bland's mother is interviewed; and Al Sharpton; and Annette Nance-Holt, mother of a teenaged boy shot on a bus almost a decade ago. There's a small group of black mothers who've taken to following the Clinton campaign around the country to speak on Hillary's behalf. They appeared in an ad called "Mothers of the Movement" that'll make you cry and want to call your mom.

And Hillary Clinton, to her great credit, is evidently listening — these women would not have given their voices to the campaign if Clinton was the slightest bit insincere. (There's a sweet story in the article about Clinton sending Sandra Bland's mother a sympathetic hand-written Christmas card.)

Bernie, of course, has the support of a wide array of civil rights leaders as well. But his outreach just hasn't appealed to these mothers in the way that Clinton's has. "He doesn’t look like compassion," Charles Rangel is quoted as saying about Bernie. "He looks like a guy raising hell on TV."

This outreach is strategically shrewd — in New York, polling shows that Clinton has the support of 65% of black voters, with 28% for Sanders. It's worth pointing out that longtime black Democrats know the Clintons quite well; but Bernie's a newcomer to the party.

She might've undone a little goodwill with her involvement in a stupid "CP time" joke this week. It was a remarkably tone-deaf move, the kind of thing that makes you want to shake a person and shout "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING."

A national conversation about violence against black youth is absolutely vital and something that needs to happen so that lives can be saved. A conversation about offensive jokes is important too... but maybe not AS important. But of course, there are a ton of articles being written right now about Clinton's participation in the dumb "joke," and only one or two about Mothers of the Movement. It's a hard subject to talk about. Hopefully we'll wind up with a President willing to do so.

PS: Speaking of Clinton (and Sanders), I will be liveslogging the Democratic debate tonight here on Slog. Come back and join me.