Amazing Race

It continues to astound me how much race is a factor, in this day and age, in a Democratic primary.

Here are some excerpts from Jan 25, 2008 New York Times article entitled: Democrats Target Their Appeals in South Carolina

'Race has weighed heavily over the contest here this week, particularly in back-and-forth exchanges between supporters of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama. Strategists for Mr. Obama worry that the discussions have driven white voters away from his candidacy, boosting the efforts of Mr. Edwards or Mrs. Clinton.

“You have two white candidates — Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and you’ve got Barack Obama who has a good base of white supporters,” said Inez Tannenbaum, a longtime party official here who is supporting Mr. Obama. “But over 50 percent of the people voting in the Democratic primary are going to be African American and, of course, it’s going to be a racially polarized race. It just is.” '

Let's see how this play out tomorrow in SC:

'Still, strategists and Democratic officials pointed to polls here this week suggesting that Mr. Obama’s support among white voters has fallen off. If the trend materializes in the voting on Saturday, his ability to transcend race could come into question and present complications in the 22 states scheduled to hold the next round of Democratic contests on Feb. 5.'