Skip to main content

Some thoughts on the "minority" race to the White House



For the first time in history there are three "minority" candidates with some real steam behind them in the Presidential race. Barack Obama announced first, the ubiquitous Hillary Clinton made it official next and now Bill Richardson has made his intentions clear. In constrast to the GOP offerings of McCain, Romney, Brownback and Giuliani (so far), the Dems have a truly diverse slate that speak to their base in a meaningful way. I just wish they were more electable...

Debra Dickerson makes some interesting points about Obama at Salon.com (sign in required). I don't buy off on her rationale for calling Obama "not black," but I understand what she's saying. She also shares my concerns about his relative inexperience and other niggling little details that could derail him.

DailyKos has some stats on the nearly worthless "hypothetical match-up polling. Clinton and Obama actually look pretty good here, but either/or polling this early in the game is only good for extending news cycles.

DailyKos also announces that New Mexico Governor, former Congressman, former Secretary of Energy AND UN Ambassador Bill Richardson tosses his hat in the Presidential ring. Richardson doesn't have the "freight train" of support driving Obama now, but he's Latino in a country that's tending Hispanic in some of our biggest states (his website is noticeably bilingual). He's got TONS of experience at several levels of government AND credibility on energy policy (pretty important given our nation's consumption patterns).

This is what I want my Black and Female candidates to look like on paper. Latinos are hardly a homogenous political bloc, but it's hard to see how Obama or Clinton get a lot of grassroots Latino support with Richardson in the primaries. We'll see how Bill Richardson plays on the national stage (it's possible that none of the Dem "frontrunners" have a real chance), but he's a much better candidate than Obama or Clinton, IMHO.

Comments

ProblemWithCaring said…
I have an interesting poston this as well...

http://problemwithcaring.blogspot.com/2007/03/march-5-2007-yes-you-already-know-this.html

Check it out...
1:57 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ashley Todd

Y'all know the story by now. White, female McCain phonebanker, Ashley Todd, leaves Texas to venture North to support her candidate. After a stint in New York, she ends up in Pittsburgh until Thursday, when she lost her effing mind and became Susan Smith Part Deux . The McCain campaign can hardly be blamed for this girl's actions. However, they need to be questioned on their response. Within hours of the incendiary allegations, two things happened. McCain and Palin called Ashley Todd. A press flack from McCain's Pennsylvania operation started pushing the story and adding salacious details. Consider what was at stake here. In a campaign environment already marked with strained racial tensions, Todd's story was potenitally explosive. It would have made a lot more sense to issue a generic statement (like Obama's campaign did). Instead, McCain and Palin lent legitimacy to the allegations (at least for a few hours) by calling her. They vetted Todd's story abou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Missy DID HER THANG!

So it's a MAJOR night for some of my faves. Missy. DID. the DAMN. THANG. Side note: Describe J Lo's performance from last year. Can't do it? Thass what I thought. NikkiFree Wiggins  said she will have floor seats if Missy goes on tour. Hell, I wanna be the dude pulling her off stage on the wheeled transport for costume changes. Note to camera operators. When you have a BUILDING FULL of people singing Missy lyrics word for word, DO NOT WASTE CUTS to Taylor Swift's poseur azz shimmying her narrow shoulders in a jacket designed to be editorial. Ma'am, you don't deserve to be featured if you're not a fan. And certainly not multiple times. And CERTAINLYcertainly not in an extended take that took precious seconds from my Missy stanning during Lose Control. Also: Put your tongue back in your mouf, Swift. Back to Missy... Am I the only one who thought that they built the entire VMA set specifically to highlight Missy? That was DAMN-ed impressive. FRfr. I m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Third Party Politics, A Primer

You want to build a legit third party for 2020? Convince Bernie Sanders to officially declare as a Reform Party candidate and build a state by state coalition of Bernie Sanders-affiliated candidates in State and local races. The Greens are done. The Reform Party actually placed Jesse Ventura in the Minnesota Governor's mansion AND earned the most third party votes since McGovern. There is NO 2024 bench for the Dems. The GOP is struggling too. If you want to break the duopoly,  you'll need a legit 3rd-partier with media presence, charisma, and real political talent. That can't happen overnight, but the unrest in the country is real. You can't beat the system this year, but if you can find the money, you can get candidates into the game. You need someone like Colin Powell to be a standard bearer. Not for POTUS. He'll be too old after this cycle. OTOH, he's got the chops, he's got the respect and combined with Sanders, you could create a home for people...
Post a Comment
Read more