Boston Globe Editorial - Focusing on a non-issue
Boston Globe Editorial - Focusing on a non-issue
Copyright by The Boston Globe
Published: January 17, 2007
Barack Obama made no history on Tuesday. Other African-Americans have run for president — Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988; Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972. And if Hillary Clinton runs, she will be on a trail blazed by other women — Chisholm, and Senator Margaret Chase Smith in 1964. Yet an endless parade of commentators are obsessed with identity politics. "Is America Ready?" blares the Newsweek headline.
Perhaps the reason for this level of attention is that Obama and Clinton seem better positioned to win the presidency than any of these predecessors. Still, commentary on the race or gender of a candidate is not what will interest most voters in the end.
Obama's story and personality are compelling. The son of a white mother and a Kenyan father, he was a law school standout and a precocious Illinois senator, and his dramatic keynote address at the Democratic National Convention here in 2004 was a high point of the week. He has written two best-sellers. And he has quickly become an effective Senate leader on issues ranging from Iraq to ethics reform. There are also questions, such as whether the country can have confidence in someone with so little seasoning.
Positives and negatives also surround Clinton, but very few of them have anything to do with identity. This has been true historically. Although John F. Kennedy confronted some doubts about his Catholicism before winning in 1960, religion was not an overriding issue. Ronald Reagan's marital history was no issue at all when he became the first divorced president in 1980.
This year and next, voters across America can expect a watershed campaign likely to be among the most dramatic in recent times. The great majority will rightly focus, we believe, not on whether they are "ready" to support a black candidate, or a woman candidate, but on which of the candidates has a vision of where the nation should be going, and the strength to lead in that direction.
Copyright by The Boston Globe
Published: January 17, 2007
Barack Obama made no history on Tuesday. Other African-Americans have run for president — Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988; Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972. And if Hillary Clinton runs, she will be on a trail blazed by other women — Chisholm, and Senator Margaret Chase Smith in 1964. Yet an endless parade of commentators are obsessed with identity politics. "Is America Ready?" blares the Newsweek headline.
Perhaps the reason for this level of attention is that Obama and Clinton seem better positioned to win the presidency than any of these predecessors. Still, commentary on the race or gender of a candidate is not what will interest most voters in the end.
Obama's story and personality are compelling. The son of a white mother and a Kenyan father, he was a law school standout and a precocious Illinois senator, and his dramatic keynote address at the Democratic National Convention here in 2004 was a high point of the week. He has written two best-sellers. And he has quickly become an effective Senate leader on issues ranging from Iraq to ethics reform. There are also questions, such as whether the country can have confidence in someone with so little seasoning.
Positives and negatives also surround Clinton, but very few of them have anything to do with identity. This has been true historically. Although John F. Kennedy confronted some doubts about his Catholicism before winning in 1960, religion was not an overriding issue. Ronald Reagan's marital history was no issue at all when he became the first divorced president in 1980.
This year and next, voters across America can expect a watershed campaign likely to be among the most dramatic in recent times. The great majority will rightly focus, we believe, not on whether they are "ready" to support a black candidate, or a woman candidate, but on which of the candidates has a vision of where the nation should be going, and the strength to lead in that direction.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:45 AM
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