Race Notes(double meanings)

The Democrats are having quite a dust-up that I fear could cause a very painful schism in the party as The Politico notes. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7845.html These racial arguments have been fueled not just by the Clintons' statements, but also by that harmful talk of the "Bradley Effect" in New Hampshire which can only contribute to distrust by African Americans of the Clintons and white Democrats in general. It just disgusts me. None of this is necessary and has added a disturbing new tone to the campaign. One damaging thing it does is that it transforms Obama into a "black candidate" rather than a candidate who happens to be African American. His appeal is that he can transcend racial boundaries, much like Douglas Wilder in Virginia in 1989, but this row hurts his ability to do that.

The Republican race in Michigan is interesting on a number of counts. First it is clearly more than just a McCain/Romney struggle. Huckabee is making a strong push in the state on a number of fronts. As the TPM notes http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005057.php Huckabee has a huge robo-call operation that has contacted some 5 million homes. However, these things can backfire. He also had a good rally in rural Michigan following an economic speech. http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/1300_fill_center_to_hear_cheer.html With endorsements from Baptist preachers and the Minutemen Project, Huckabee will have a strong showing among Michigan conservatives and will be a serious contender, potentially shocking the pundits.

Meanwhile, Romney continues to have problems. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jWbI2rULUHnQwe-83Fd1Pb2lT8-wD8U3UA880 The small crowd he found when he came to Michigan should be a concern. Granted, crowd size seemed to mean nothing for Clinton in New Hampshire, but this can't be good for Mitt. He has achieved the endorsement of many papers, but as we saw in 2004, newspaper endorsements don't mean much because if they did, John Kerry would be president.

McCain did not do much notable in Michigan, but every indication is that he is ahead.