Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Hillary/Obama/Edwards Three-Way

Michelle Cottle at The Plank speculates on the Democratic primary race:


The safe-money bet is that we'll hear this minority v. chick storyline approximately 7,500 times if both senators [Clinton and Obama] indeed make a play for the White House, which has me wondering: What will this mean for the oh-so-white guy currently rounding out the Democratic triumvirate of top-tier candidates, Johnny Reid Edwards?

Will Edwards suffer from not being included in the media frenzy certain to rise up around Hillary v. Obama--all those inspirational stories about American social progress and the chance to remove the asterisk from the assertion that "anyone can grow up to be president"? Will some people come to resent Edwards as another entitled white guy trying to spoil the party?

Alternatively, will all the talk about race and gender and trailblazers and cultural barriers ultimately turn people off or make them question the qualifications (or, god forbid, the electability) of the two aspiring "firsts"? In the end, will Edwards benefit from being the candidate utterly without novelty appeal in this race?


John Edwards, here's your winning campaign slogan... You can have it for free. "John Edwards: He's a man. And white."

P.S. This is the exception that proves the rule: I have no opinion about the 2008 presidential race. I don't plan to have one until Q1 2008 (at least).

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