There isn't much point in debating whether Hillary's latest stupid statement is racist or not. What you call it is probably beside the point. But it does deserve consideration:
"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."
I think the bigger thing is the way "the working class" is so often racialized. In the popular imagination, we never think of black men--or black women for that matter--as being laid-off from the local factory. That's fascinating given that one of the more cited interpretations of the urban plight of black folks revolves around the disappearance of unionized, unskilled (read: factory) jobs. It also, to my mind, demonstrates how the term "disproportionate" becomes quickly conflated with "most." In other words, we know that undereducated with criminal records have trouble finding work. But most black men don't fit into that category, and most black men (heh, and virtually ALL black women) fit very comfortably in the working class (to the extent that there still is a "working class"). Still, the popular image of your average black person is that of a slothful loafer, living off the largess of the state. Meanwhile middle-class blacks are nothing more the recipients of Affirmative Action. Only white people who drink Pabst Blue Ribbon work hard. They are the truly disadvantaged.
I don't know if equating "hard working" with "white" was a dog-whistle, or what. I don't much care. Hillary is on her way out. She's a joke. The surest sign of someone being an effete latte-sipping liberal is their acceptance of Hillary as an ambassador the white working class. Why don't we send Karen Hughes back to the Middle East, while we're at it. Nothing would be more catastrophic than for Obama to reach out to Hillary in some vain hope that she'll bring more white males to his camp. I think he's smarter than that. I'm hoping on Clair McCaskill or Jim Webb.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Great point. I think it has to do in part with the way that "working class" has come to be a cultural instead of an economic signifier, and the "culture" associated with it is Archie Bunker's. It's the weird mirror image of how "white," as in "Stuff White People Like," is often equated with "everyone white *except* the white working class." Puzzling.
I had been thinking for a long time that he might pick AZ governor Janet Napolitano, but with McCain as the opponent, AZ is no longer even conceivably winnable (and, to be honest, given what we've seen of the sexism thrown Clinton's way (I say as a non-supporter of her campaign) this season, there's no way in hell America's ready for a national campaign by an unmarried woman.). I'd gladly take Webb or McCaskill, though. They both strike me as good fighters.
Good sociology. Groups, tribes,sects, select their leaders for leadership qualities, which are the qualities that get people selected as leaders. Leaders come from select groups, son of a chief, toughest fighter, bravest soldier, a person who touches the souls of most of the people (charisma, grace). No one can make it to the top of any country without, as you say, people to drag you across the finish line. (Great way of putting it). Few volunteer to drag. You have to ask without losing your dignity. The decorated officer-veteran has an enormous advantage, as does an amateur boxer (professionals may have too much brain damage.) Previous service high in government is a plus. We're talking Webb here. He sure to draw the Appalachian (Scotch-Irish) vote (he's their bard). He is strong where Obama is weak. McCain loves to ridicule Marines. He'll be sorry.