Posted By: LisaB @ 01/22/2008 6:45:27 PM
Comment: I wrote a short email to Jonathan Alter immediately after he wrote about the Obama win in Iowa and how African-Americans were sitting on the fence. He wrote about how the race was "Obama's to lose." He echoed other political pundits and news media who were saying the same thing. Never did they say it might be a fluke. Nonetheless, my email predicted that the Clintons would use race, in particular, to marginalize Sen. Obama from his broader support. I didn't expect it to be as transparent as it was. I thought the tricks would be more under-handed, more surreptitious. I actually expected bold-faced lies. What they used were media-spin distortions of Obama's words. Either way you cut it, I think the Clintons have succeeded in making Obama "just the usual black candidate running for President" instead of the biracial candidate who had put it all together, the money, the message, the look. And, as we've seen with the numbers from Nevada, they have used their political muscle to make the black Democratic voting bloc a useless monolith that becomes the death knell for Obama's "Americans all" theme.
The country may not be ready for a black President or a biracial President. But we can all thank Mr. Obama for planting the seed of "color-blindness" and "content of character" that are the underpinning of our Bill of Rights...equal access to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Iowa victory--and the team who believes in these ideals enough to back Obama--have moved us forward, regardless of the outcome of this nomination battle. History will show that we will become a better nation because of Mr. Obama's "audacity."
His campaign is not about black or African-American progress, it is about America's progress. As a former political reporter, I hope my former colleagues recognize the significance of the Obama factor in this election and rise to a deeper analysis than I have seen thus far.
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