Political Media Blinded by Blocs

Every general presidential election in American history has been contested by white males. In 2008, the odds greatly favor the first African American -- Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) -- to run for President. This has forced the media to discuss race and identity, and they have not done it well, and they've done a disservice to both remaining Democratic candidates.

The first fumble came early in the contest. Prior to the New Hampshire primary, two surrogates for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) brought up the issue of Obama's drug use. Most in the press knew of his drug use. Because this was not a new fact for them, they decided to spin the story as the Clinton's playing the race card.

This angle created controversy where none existed. Obama had admitted to drug use in an autobiography that discussed his own personal struggle with his identity, and it had nothing to do with his race. Voters have a right to decide whether or not they can trust a candidate based on the facts, not spin.

The race discussion accelerated heading into the South Carolina primary. The Democratic primary electorate is 45% African American, and many wondered how many would cross over and support Clinton. A watershed moment occurred prior to the primary. The Obama campaign issued a memo critical of a comment of Clinton and the struggle of Martin Luther King to enact the Civil Rights Act in 1965. Clinton said:

"I would point to the fact that that Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the president before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done."

The Obama campaign claimed, and the media ran with the angle, that Clinton downplayed the importance of MLK and that it sent a signal to African Americans that Clinton didn't care about their efforts in the civil rights struggle.