RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Barack Hussein Obama in '08?

I agree that it would be silly for Obama, or anyone else, to expect other candidates to step aside on some sort of "affirmative action" theory.

Of course, some would argue that is exactly what Hillary expected would happen for her; that male candidates would be forced to step aside on the theory that "a woman president would be progressive."

Too bad for her it may not work that way. Hotline's Blogometer has a good roundup of liberal blog reaction to the race war between the Clinton and Obama camps. I found this Noam Scheiber post particularly astute:

• On Friday I said that, if you were cynical, you could argue that the Clintons have an interest in polarizing the nomination fight along racial lines--the idea being that, even if it hurts them in the short-term (with African Americans in South Carolina), Obama can't win if he becomes the "black candidate," which is what racial polarization accomplishes.
  
  Well, I no longer think you have to be cynical to make that argument. This is just despicable stuff.

Say what you want about Obama: that he's too liberal, too inexperienced, etc. And you might be right. I know I'd never vote for him.

But one of the truly positive aspects of his campaign is that he is running for office not as a black candidate, but as a candidate for president who happens to be black. He has simply not played the race card the way Clinton has played the gender card. While Hillary integrated the fact that she would be the first woman president into her standard stump speech, Obama does not emphasize race. That, at least, deserves our respect...certainly a lot more than crocodile tears and hinting that we're all sexists if we don't support here.