Race to the Nomination

I usually do not pay attention to primaries or all the fuss leading up to it plus I think there are always too many people seeking the nomination. But I guess if there weren't that many it wouldn't be a horse race. So I have decided to make a few comments on the candidates and some preliminary observations.

There are eight candidates seeking the Democratic nomination and I see only two having a real race for the nomination. The candidates are in alpha order: Joseph Biden, D-Delaware; Hillary Clinton, D-New York; Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut; Former Senator, John Edwards; Former Senator Mike Gravel; Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Barak Obama, D-Illinois; and Governor Bill Richardson, D-New Mexico. There are others that are "interested" but have not formed exploratory committees. Sounds to me like the interest is lacking.

So, the top contenders are Clinton, Obama and Edwards. The former is suspect. If he stops fussing with his hair long enough maybe he will actually say something that makes sense. So I think that the two most formidable candidates are Hillary and Barak. The polls say so, their money say so it must be so. So let me start first with talking about Mr. Obama. I'll take one at a time over two days.

Senator Barak Obama's trajectory started on the night of July 27, 2004 when he made the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. From that night forward pundits kept asking the question, is he going to run for president? After much wrangling Mr. Obama decided to run. Mr. Obama has been in the Senate for two years. He missed the vote on Iraq but he insists that he would have voted on it. In street vernacular the response to that would be, coulda, woulda, shoulda. In his book, Dreams from my Father, which I read and thought it was good, he talked about not knowing his father and feeling distant, he didn't have a great relationship with his stepfather but seemed to have a good one with his maternal grandparents, he smoked pot and he was a community organizer, he went to Columbia and Harvard Law School. He is accomplished and forthright. But is he presidential material? His two main themes is ending the Iraq war and implementing universal health care. He hasn't really stated how he will do these things but now he wants a piece of Pakistan.

Things I like about Barak Obama: He is very intelligent, he is very articulate and he is confident. I would like to think that he transcends race and stands for everything that Dr. King dreamed about. Some say that he is the embodiment of hope and he may just well be but hope alone is not going to get him through the door of the White House. I would have liked to see more experience under his belt but it is what it is. He may just be a formidable opponent to Hillary but everyone will have to wait and see.