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Distilled Democratic Nonsense

According to a CBS News article, the sponsors of the recent Democratic ?debate? in Las Vegas ? the Nevada Democratic Party, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and 100 Black Men of America, Inc., partnered with several local groups: the African-American Democratic Leadership Council, Impacto and the College of Southern Nevada ? were ?disappointed? by the ?lack of minority talk at the debate.?

... [W]ith issues such as candidates? individual backgrounds, the general economy, the war in Iraq and Yucca Mountain dominating the debate, many felt minority issues were glazed over.

?I didn?t even hear the words ?affirmative action? once,? CSN history and political science professor Alan Balboni said, noting that billing the event as a debate on black-brown issues may have been misleading. ?I don?t even know if I heard the word ?discrimination.??

Fellow CSN professor Mike Green shared a sentiment of disappointment after the debate.

?Nothing against MSNBC but they focused more on the horse race and the controversies,? Green said.

For all its lack of the desired focus on minority issues, however, the ?debate? was not without at least two moments of humor. Here?s one:

While Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards all agreed that character and the ability to spark change should be the defining factors for voters, one viewer who submitted a question noted that the potential to break historical barriers is impossible to ignore.

?The policy differences among the remaining candidates are so slight that we appear to be choosing on the basis of personality and life story,? San Diego, Calif. voter Margaret Wells wrote. ?Why should I, as a progressive woman, not resent being forced to choose between the first viable female candidate and the first viable African-American candidate??

How dare the Democrats force her to make such a choice! On the other hand, what?s the point of being a ?progressive woman? if you can?t find something to resent?

And here?s another, from none other than Ms. Hillary:

?Sen. [Barack] Obama and I agree completely that neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign,? New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said

Yeah, right. And if you believe this, you?ll believe that if we have a Clinton-Obama or an Obama-Clinton ticket, you?ll never hear anything during the ensuing campaign about historical firsts, ceilings being broken, etc.

I wish, just once, that, upon hearing this ?no race, no gender? nonsense from the Democrats? dueling duo, some intrepid reporter would ask, ? Well, Senator(s), if you believe race and gender should play no role in selecting a president, why do you continue to believe they should play such large roles in selecting college students and employees??

Full post as published by Discriminations on January 18, 2008 (boomark / email).