Rev Wright and the Polls, Barack's deathnail?

Will public opinion polls ultimately decide how super delegates vote?

A vote--the deciding vote--hinges on polls of perceptions of a man not running for office: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

A historic opportunity to begin to redress cynicism and the corruption of American democracy--squandered by a voting public unable and unwilling to distinguish between two starkly different men. Devastating.

I Need Some Help

What exactly is the difference between the comments made by Reverend Wright and those made by Pats Robertson and Buchanan? I'm really having a hard time understanding why Reverend Wright's comments don't seem to go away, yet the same man who wrote A Brief for Whitey and the following comments seem to have faded into the sunset?

-"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." –Pat Robertson, on the dangers of judicial activism

-"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." –Pat Robertson

-"(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." –Pat Robertson

-"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up" –Pat Robertson, on blowing up the State Department.

So Pat Robertson can say that evangelical Christians are the most discriminated group of people in America, that feminism turns women into witch lesbians, that the erosion of judicial activism is worse than the events of 9/11 AND co-sign on Jerry Falwell:

- "Well, I totally concur." –Pat Robertson to Jerry Falwell following the Sept. 11 attacks, after Falwell said, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this happen."

Why is it that all of this hatefulness can be spewed, and McCain suffers little to no criticism for aligning himself with the likes of Pat Buchanan, yet I'm still hearing about Rev. Wright's same comments 6 weeks later? Do people expect for him to go into hiding and never show his face publicly again?

In terms of the 9/11 comments, Robertson, Wright and Falwell should be ashamed of themselves. They're ALL wrong on that, and yet two of the three aren't receiving the intense media scrutiny of Wright. In terms of Wright's race comments, quite frankly, I think they make white people a little bit more uncomfortable because the comments are directed towards them than when Buchanan and Robertson make the same equally offensive comments towards nonwhites. I really don't think that Wright's comments are anything new, anything that mainstream America hasn't heard before from a prominent person in the black community. But I also think it's wrong to continually ask Obama about his pastor and use it as a reason to knock Obama when McCain/Buchanan aren't getting the same treatment. Or maybe it's just clear to everybody that Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson are off their rockers and paying them any attention is like feeding the gremlins after midnight.

So if someone could delineate the difference for me, I'd appreciate it.

The Politics of North Carolina

The phrase "all politics is local" certainly applies to this year's Democratic Primary, as nearly every corner of the country will have been covered by the time this process (finally) ends, whether it be in May, June, or beyond. For me, having lived all my life prior to college in North Carolina, it's exciting to watch as the political spotlight finally returns to my home state, allowing North Carolinians the chance to play a major role in national politics.

North Carolina overall is a very odd state politically. It tends to vote Democratic in state races, as voters have elected a Democratic majority to the state Senate for more than 100 years, and Democratic governors have enjoyed great success over many decades recently, while voting Republican for President. The last Democratic Presidential candidate to win North Carolina was Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter who swept most of the South back in 1976. Senate races are the most confusing of all, as a liberal populist like John Edwards can win his seat rather easily at the same time as Jesse Helms, one of the most conservative men in America, is also enjoying great popularity.

North Carolina has roughly 9 million people, which makes it the 10th largest state in the US. Recent economic troubles have seen manufacturing and textile jobs leave the state in record numbers, while the banking capital of Charlotte continues to play a major role internationally. Two major military installations, Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune and the Army's Fort Bragg, have played a major role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and, as a result, a large number of casualties have originated from these bases.

The outgoing governor, Mike Easley, and former Senator John Edwards have refused to endorse either Clinton or Obama, but Obama still enjoys a sizable lead among those superdelegates in the state who have already indicated their preference. Obama is leading in all recent polls taken in the state as well, in most by a large margin, and averages a double-digit advantage at this point, according to Real Clear Politics. Obama also raised nearly three times as much money from NC donors as Clinton did in the month of March, illustrating once more that Clinton faces an uphill battle in the state on May 6 to continue the momentum she gained by winning the Pennsylvania primary.

The two leading Democratic candidates for NC Governor, Bev Perdue and Richard Moore, have also endorsed Obama and used the candidate as a central part of their campaign advertisements. In response, on Monday the North Carolina GOP will begin running an ad against the two Democrats that attacks their support for Obama based on Obama's connection to Rev. Wright. The ad was posted online Wednesday, quickly rising to the #1 most viewed video on the internet because of its"controversial" strategy to bring Rev. Wright, and possibly the issue of race, back into the mix of this election. Senator McCain and the national GOP party asked the state party to not air the ad for these reasons, but in the truly unpredictable nature of North Carolina politics, the NC GOP party chairwoman is aggressively moving forward with this line of attack. What effect the ad, and the large amount of attention surrounding it, may have on the primary or general election will be interesting to follow.

If Obama is to win the Democratic primary on May 6, as most experts expect he will, it may help bring the primary season to an end, also depending on how the voting goes in Indiana on the same day. Looking forward to the general election in November, no one knows if Obama will be able to make the state a competitive battleground, but a shift from Republican to Democratic would be substantial. The state's 15 electoral votes could be up for grabs, according to Electoral-Vote.com, as the site has the state as a firm toss up at the moment based on the most recent polling, showing that if all the polling data was accurate, an Obama-McCain race would be decided by whoever wins the Tarheel State. Obviously it's too early to know which states will prove decisive this fall, but with the rising numbers of registered NC Democrats, the popularity Obama enjoys among college-aged youth, and the swirling controversy over the GOP's use of an anti-Rev. Wright ad, the election this fall could provide North Carolina with an even greater amount of political power. For the sake of an interesting race this fall, and many interesting home state storylines, here's hoping that North Carolina remains politically competitive for quite some time.

Race and its (Positive) Effect on the Presidential Race

So even though I haven't really been pleased with the coverage of race in this year's Presidential race (i.e., I'm clearly ignoring part of my identity by voting for either Obama or Clinton, Obama isn't black/white enough, the Dems have unresolved issues with race still, Jeremiah Wright, Geraldine Ferraro, etc.) outside of Obama's speech on race, which I personally thought was so on-point and thought-provoking, I'm posting this interesting article on what it is to be of mixed-race in America.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/us/politics/31race.html

Race is such a complex issue in America, even almost 40 years after Dr. King was assassinated. I think is why I was so disgusted with the media trying to make it seem like I as a black woman was conflicted about who I should vote for based on physical characteristics. It's also disheartening to see/hear instances of someone thinking that they've been discriminated against but are automatically dismissed because people think that since there are no Jim Crow signs up anymore or that we're in southern California that racism doesn't exist. At the same time, there are some individuals who allege race discrimination at every corner, which I also think is bad because it does diminish the instances where discrimination does in fact occur.

But this is precisely why we need to have more candid discussions about race in America, and why I hope these discussions don't end on Nov. 5. We ALL make judgments about people based on their ethnicity, skin color, how they wear their hair, etc., but before we can really embrace our differences, we should try to understand why some of our differences are sensitive areas for some.

That's your public service announcement for the day. No more holding of hands and singing Kumbaya from me. I promise ;)

Spring break...but no break from the campaign

Sen. Obama delivered a significant speech today in Philadelphia. It was designed to help answer the controversy surrounding his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Most commentators have described this speech as crucial to the larger direction of the campaign. Take a look and leave some feedback. How do you think the speech functioned to address this controversy?