...Let's think it through. Gore and Kerry got about 50 million votes or so in their races. Would Obama lose any of that vote because of his race?

I have to say yes. Would it be a significant loss? It might be enough to matter in a close race, and in close states like Ohio or Florida.

However, he might also gain votes from the other side. Tolerance is an appealing position and not every Republican or conservative is a benighted racist, particularly among the younger people. As a moderate politician and as an appealing person, Obama might gain enough cross over votes to counter any losses due to racism.

Tolerance is definitely the future in this country and racism is the past. That is just a fact of life in this free and mobile country, where fewer and fewer people know or care or even think about who their neighbors are. Younger people simply don't care about race as the older generations did. A lot of young people don't even seem to understand what the fuss is about.

If the Republicans try to play the race card against Obama they will risk alienating the younger generation and could end up being in the minority for decades. For the Democrats, running Obama could be seen as a great investment in the future, even if he loses.

All of the above applies equally well to Hillary and gender.

My conclusion: Democrats shouldn't worry about race or sex at all. We should sort out the candidates based on their positions and let race and gender issues take care of themselves.

OTOH, if Democrats are seen as having rejected any of the candidates because of their race or sex, that would be a disaster worse than losing the presidency to any Republican. It would be selling out the future of the Democratic party for short term gain.

...I still do this. And I'm 53.

...narrowly. 48 percent to 51 percent. Interestingly he actually led among women and independents. He lost among men, 45 to 54 percent.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/TN/S/01/

Maybe it was his race that made him lose. Or maybe not. Maybe it was some other damn thing. You really can't say in such a close race.

What is clear is that it wasn't impossible that he could have won.

Bring on the competition!

..."We, the People," Bob, and we the people as per the Constitution can provide for our common welfare and our common needs: social security, health care, defense, roads, regulation, laws, and so on.

Your libertarain views, OTOH, are not supported in the Constitution and would in fact make us helpless in our own lives. Far from being a free people, we would live at the mercy of powerful individuals, rich people and war lords.

I say, Go, Hillary, Go! And may the best competitor win.

...about how the Clintons were gonna have their asses handed to them by the right wing or by somebody else. And it has yet to happen.

Jerry Brown, Paul Tsongas, George Bush I, Ross Perot, Rudy Giuliani, and two Republican Senatorial candidates in NY all found out the hard way that a Clinton isn't so easy to beat.

Hillary is, was, and will be a formidable candidate. The right wing will no doubt scream all day long about her, but in the end they are liable to once again overreach and help her win. It always seems to work out that way with the Clintons.

Whether she really is the best candidate for the Democrats remains to be seen, but I sure wouldn't call her a guaranteed loser.

...has apparently put it aside for a while and borrowed someone else's so he can suck up to Dobson and the rest of the right wing and maybe be president.

Unfortunately, once you put your mind aside, you might forget to pick it back up again.

At least Hillary has always been a centerist. She may be calculating, but she's never been any different.

...for laying out in a clear way the ugly facts of IEDs. It is astonishing to me that we seem to have put ourselves in the position of the hapless Turks in "Lawrence of Arabia."

I've wondered why we don't have better surveilance over the roads our troops travel on. Iraq is a desert county with few clouds, just look at the clear photos of Baghdad on Google Earth. So it should be fairly easy to keep watch on the roads, even at night.

However, it would probably take a tremendous number of eyeballs to watch all of the cameras. This is something for which we could use the draft--that is, assuming we really do care about winning in Iraq.

...that Obama is not, as stated in the article, on the 'down-low' about his 'non-blackness.' He's written an autobiography which spells out his origins in crystal clear language.

In fact, the right wing is now using the same book to spread the lie that Obama isn't a 'Christian' but is secretly a Muslim--and a terrorist sympathizing, America hating, Madrassa educated Muslim at that.

Pretty soon, we'll hear somebody say that Obama isn't even a person, but a Martian or maybe a ghost. In fact, soon he may just become the "Invisible Man"...hmm, where have we heard that story before....

Actually, Obama is just a specific American individual with an interesting and unique history who seems pretty comfortable with himself. And he may well turn out to be appealing to the many Americans of all races and backgrounds who would much rather be themselves than be forced to be pre-defined members of pre-assigned groups.

...will it be Madame, Mrs., or Ms. President? And who decides?