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In the water with the presidential candidates Sunday, May 11, 2008 By David J. Sanders Black and white are the hues with which more bombastic pundits prefer to color their commentaries, but other more thoughtful types often use tinges of gray. Why not? Planes ascend and descend, but they often fly in holding patterns; the Roman Church has heaven and hell, but it also has purgatory. So, for purposes of examining those individuals who desire to be president, it's sinking, swimming or treading water. Barack Obama is swimming, for now. Tuesday's results are what they are, but Hillary Clinton isn't quitting anytime soon. The narrative coming out of Tuesday's primaries: Obama had finally put the Rev. Jeremiah Wright escapade behind him, taken his rightful place as the eventual Democratic nominee, and will run all over John McCain by claiming the "old man" is running for President Bush's third term. It's all good now, but Obama is flawed. His record as an organizer and elected official from Chicago's South Side renders impotent his claim that he will tackle Washington's corruption. He was, at best, complicit in and never challenged the corruption in his own backyard. Soothing words won't be enough to obscure his desire for confiscatory and punitive tax policies, bigger government, liberal federal judges or a passive foreign policy. There will be a more thorough treatment of his aversion to gun-and-God grippers, abortion opponents, or for that matter anyone who disagrees with Mrs. Obama. His ties to Wright and Ayers, as well as those to other questionable characters, will be fully explored. If McCain is running for Bush's third term, then Obama is running for the first term of McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry, none of whom could win. Mrs. Clinton is barely treading water. Since Tuesday, cable news' chattering class has written and rewritten Mrs. Clinton's political obituary, save Paul Begala and Lanny Davis, the two Clintonoids who argue not only that she should stay in the race, but also that she could still come out of Denver with the Democratic nomination. Displaying enduring loyalty usually makes one appear noble, but in the case of the aforementioned, it also can make one come across as being out of touch with reality. Look, it's not over ... yet. Hillary, according to her latest campaign finance report, has bought into her campaign to the tune of $6.5 million. So, why would she give up now, especially when she has earned a significant number of delegates and knows that Obama will have a tougher time beating John McCain than would she? Obama must start stepping all over himself in new and creative ways if she is to have a chance, but that isn't likely to happen. So, the once narrow road to Denver is now a tight rope. John McCain is swimming, actually dog-paddling, but he's in the kiddie pool working out themes for the fall campaign. It'll soon be time for the adult swim. Bill Clinton is sinking. No, he's sunk. He was supposed to be the secret weapon. No one would dispute the fact that he is a weapon, it's just that when he fires it hits Hillary and the damage he inflicts is anything but secretive. I suspect those who made up 90 percent of the North Carolina black vote that went for Obama probably remembered when the so-called "first black president" dealt a full deck of race cards in South Carolina in an attempt to marginalize the man who would be the first real black president. It will be interesting to watch Bill Clinton's mea culpas over the next decade as he tries to regain the soul he lost. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
