Saturday, January 20, 2007

Clinton vs. Obama

Hilary Clinton has officially thrown her hat into the ring:

Hilary story

Throughout the article are little things like this:

"I am one of the millions of women who have waited all their lives to see the first woman sworn in as president of the United States — and now we have our best opportunity to see that dream fulfilled," said Ellen Malcolm, president of EMILY's list, which raises money for Democratic women who run for office.

Is it just me, or is this the difference between Obama's and Hilary's campaign? Hilary we are calling a possible woman contender and Obama is being called a real contender, without a ton of racial connotations, a breath of fresh air.

Hilary can't get past this "woman" label and Obama seems way past the "racial" label.

I feel that difference. It is subtle. It is a difference that may make voters consider Obama on the issues rather than thinking of him as a racial candidate. Hilary as a choice seems permeated with thinking about a woman as president.

Not that I am against a female president. However, I did think before I heard about Obama's bid that race would be a tough issue to overcome in a presidential election. But I feel that Obama has overcome that already. It just doesn't feel like an issue with him.

This will be a very interesting election that may depose a lot of myths and biased thinking. We may actually start getting to some real meat on issues. I love it.

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