Webb: Race and the Democratic primaries

Democrats and many on the left use race as a sword and a shield interchangeably.

Sometimes they don’t even get the race, or more accurately, the ethnicity correct. Remember when CNN’s Areva Martin told me I was white and therefore capable of “white privilege.” The ease with which she made that assumption was genuine and should frighten all of you.

And now for the latest and Democratic primary race drama. South Carolina state Sen. Dick Harpootlian and campaign surrogate for former Vice President Joe Biden is being attacked for allegedly racist remarks against South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Jerry Govan. Govan is a paid surrogate for Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Govan got almost $50,000 from Steyer as a paid surrogate. And Harpootlian’s “race crime” was pointing that out. Writing, “Mr. Money bags a.k.a @tomsteyer has paid S.C. State Rep. Jerry Govan almost $50,000 for a month worth of work? Is he pocketing the dough or redistributing the wealth?”

Steyer’s ineffective campaign is simply spending money and not getting the return on investment with the Democratic base. You can only buy so much of any voters’ confidence. He also comes across as a political fraud with many independents in his contradictions based on how he made his money that are there for all to see.

Still, he eats up airtime. While media outlets make money from his campaign ad buys, he helps to keep the Democratic field uncertain and in disarray.

It’s simple, a black politician got paid for taking a position, went against the expected, and the political race segregationists in the Congressional Black Caucus jumped in, also as expected. I still don’t understand the loyalty of blacks to Biden who has spent decades in Washington promising returns for blacks, never delivering, and now wants their support again.

About half the state’s Black Caucus stood together and demanded an immediate apology and that Biden distance himself from Harpootlian. Good luck with that. Harpootlian has been in this political battle and many others. If he apologizes it will be for political expediency.

You see, South Carolina is black country for Democrats in the primary and according to the current political narrative, Biden owns much of that country.

Biden, no newcomer to the political world after decades in Washington decided to seize on the opportunity and go after Steyer, who can outspend him and has the will to do so. Biden needs to win South Carolina. It’s his firewall against final failure.

By the way, this is going to get worse and more ridiculous. Just check out former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He mistakenly said “black money” instead of dark money during an interview. The usual race pimps pounced.

The man not on the debate stage thus far is Mike Bloomberg.

Of course, Bloomberg, who already had issues with getting support from blacks, has to defend his New York City mayoral position on stop, question and frisk. Democrats pounced on the video of Bloomberg explaining the program from a statistical point of view.

It’s not often that I get the chance to defend Bloomberg, who is an elitist and his anti-second amendment stance is abhorrent to any constitutionalist like me, but he’s not wrong on the application of the program. One of his failures, however, was to make sure that when the program went wrong it was addressed. It was very effective in removing illegal guns from the streets of New York City and the corresponding reduction in gun violence is evidence of this.

So how will Democrats use race against other Democrats in the primary? I can’t answer that, and you have to watch it play out. Fact is they’re really using race against blacks for their vote and when it’s time, every other minority is on the table.

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, host of “Reality Check with David Webb” on Fox Nation, a Fox News contributor and a frequent television commentator. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.