Monday, January 14, 2008

Race and the Democratic Primary

The pundit ranting and media attention focusing on "race issues" in the Democratic primary seems extremely overhyped to me - almost a network fabrication to pique viewer interest and heat up a race where all three Democrats have similar platforms, voting records, and sensibilities.

Of course there are tiny little "swift boat" attacks every day by people who are associated with the campaigns in various ways, but on balance it is ridiculous to see this as a contentious campaign - the dialog for the most part has been very respectful and civil, reflecting the fact that the players are much more ideologically compatible than they are incompatible.

Tomorrow's Democratic debate should provide an excellent read on the state of the campaigns in terms of negativity and future direction. I expect a fiesty but respectful Obama and Clinton, with Edwards probably doing some Hilary bashing as he's clearly lining himself up with the "new kids on the block" rather than the Clinton old school.

Kerry's endorsement of Obama was intriguing given that he ran with John Edwards. Despite almost becoming president himself, Kerry no longer has much national political clout - perhaps another reflection on our "all or nothing" American political mentality.

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