Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Who Won Harlem?

When asked about his comments on Barack Obama's victory in the South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton had this to say:

“You’ve got to really go some to play the race card with me,” Mr. Clinton said. “My office is in Harlem, and Harlem voted for Hillary, by the way.”

Putting aside Clinton's assumption that having an office in Harlem is conclusive evidence that he's not a racist, did Harlem really vote for Hillary? Harlem's geographic boundaries are rather fuzzy, but the heart of the area is bounded by 125th Street on the south, 145th Street on the north, Frederick Douglass Boulevard on the west, and 5th Avenue on the east. This area largely overlaps with the 70th State Senate district. Furthermore, Bill Clinton's Harlem office is located in the 70th district. According to the New York City Board of Elections, Barack Obama carried the district with 13,738 votes to Hillary Clinton's 9124 votes.

This surely ranks low among the inaccuracies uttered by Bill Clinton, but I thought I should attempt to set the record straight anyway.

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