Back in 1992, the Clintons were decidedly not heroes to black America. Bill ran on a platform of welfare reform. He was tough on crime, and some felt he gratuitously supported the execution of the brain-damaged African American killer Ricky Ray Rector on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. When Clinton scolded the obscure rapper Sister Souljah at a meeting of Jesse Jackson Sr.'s Rainbow Coalition, Jackson called it a "Machiavellian" gambit for white votes. That fall, Clinton carried 82 percent of the black vote--a low sum compared to other Democratic nominees. (In 1988, for instance, Mike Dukakis carried 89 percent of the black electorate.)

Yeah basically, except a lot of black people were down with welfare reform and criminal crackdowns. I'm not sure that hurt Bill so much. Besides Gore got more of the black vote than Bill, but I wouldn't say blacks liked Gore more. All that said, I agree with the basic assertion. Black people's affection for Clinton has long been overstated.