My central concern is that we’ve projected a wide variety of motives, policy considerations, and ideas to Obama based on the idealistic wrapper his campaign comes in, without actually looking at his record. I linked to a substantive leftist critique of Obama that people concerned about the black poor and working class should be interested in.

I don’t see either candidate pushing their “identity” from a policy perspective, so I’m not sure if it’s fair to ask what either one will do for women/black people.

If we look at other women heads of state, they tended to be pretty forceful and probably not the ideal to push the “female agenda” Thatcher , Bhutto and Golda meyer come to mind. And as for black folk, Rice and Powell, and I know that their roles weren’t really focused on domestic policy, didn’t really change much except make me proud that the glass ceiling has been broken.

Actually, I am unclear about the topic /question you are posing. Are you saying you don’t know what Obama’s policy will be towards black people and so therefore you are not sure about him?

Maybe there should have been more focus then, but Clinton was the all but ordained frontrunner up until Iowa. Correct me if I’m wrong, but people weren’t talking about him being a sure thing/strong candidate seriously before then.

Who is “him”? Obama or Edwards?

Edwards was never going to be more than a second place candidate (because of the Clinton buzz) and the only reason Obama got to be recognized as a strong contender was when voters finally got their say at Iowa and subsequent caucuses.

I disagree. Edwards polled better than Clinton against McCain and other potential candidates.
You’re correct to argue that people are making their decision based on more than emotion. However, given that there are not significant differences between the two remaining candidates policy wise you’d be hard pressed to make a policy-based argument as to why we should support one over the other. I’ve yet to see a sustained argument for why Clinton would be so good for women.

Maybe there should have been more focus then, but Clinton was the all but ordained frontrunner up until Iowa. Correct me if I’m wrong, but people weren’t talking about him being a sure thing/strong candidate seriously before then.

The point is simply this, Edwards was never going to be more than a second place candidate (because of the Clinton buzz) and the only reason Obama got to be recognized as a strong contender was when voters finally got their say at Iowa and subsequent caucuses. Which to me suggests that they did a little homework, i.e. did a little more than just blindly follow the media’s projections. And surely not all of them were standing outside in the freezing cold listening to his speeches.

Maybe he’s not going to push through some monumental change. The lack of significant differences between him and Clinton point to this. But frankly, any candidate is virtually untested and he’s never put himself as the leader of the black man’s interest.

They both want healthcare, they both *claim* that they will get the troops out etc. If you watch the debates its nothing but “I agree with Hilary” and “I agree with Barack.” (With some personal/ish attacks thrown in for good measure).

compound this with the first female/first black man thing and the discussions around this ( that side-track more pertinent discourses) and you end up with a race against personalites, essences and auras.

That’s how I see it anyway.

Sorry to interrupt, Bro., but here, on a different note:

I think it is time to gather all the black bloggers around a statement. Namely this:

(1) The Democratic party base has spoken. The numbers show that Mrs. Clinton has lost this race for the nomination.

(2) Mrs. Clinton’s increasingly shrill attacks against Mr. Obama have taken on the airs of racism.

(3) That is regrettable because via the candidacy of Mr. Obama for the first time in the electoral history of this nation, the vast majority of African-American stand united with untold millions of white Americans and Americans of all colors.

(4) It appears that Mrs. Clinton is about to shatter this historic unity.

(5) We therefore call on Mrs. Clinton to face the reality of the numbers, concede defeat and thereby heal this wound which she has opened and continues to widen.

(6) It is clear that Mrs. Clinton can not be considered for the Vice-Presidential slot on the Democratic ticket. Mrs. Clinton has denigrated Mr. Obama to the point that any possible praise she would heap on him as a member of the Democratic ticket would ring hollow and hypocritical.

(7) If the Democratic Party leadership were to nullify our votes by giving Mrs. Clinton the nomination despite the popular vote, we call on all African-Americans to withdraw their support from the Democratic Party and to stay at home. We have survived eight years under President Bush, we will survive four years under a President McCain. We will NOT survive the nullification of our most hard-fought for right – our votes.

Pass it on…