Sunday Political Dish

I know this is a surprise (can you see the sarcasm dripping?) but I think about politics a lot. I read the New York Times multiple times per day and I have their political blog, The Caucus, on Google Reader. Lately, however, I've just been fed up with the whole Democratic primary. If Hillary's campaign people asked me I would say, "Step off, Bitch" (oh yeah, I said Bitch). It's just time. Especially after this latest RFK kerfluffel.

In any case, for the next few months (or perhaps longer) I am going to devote my Sunday postings to my political musings. Here are a few things I've been thinking about lately:

As I mentioned, it's time for Hillary to give it up. Seriously. She says that she's won the popular vote, but I beg to differ. She didn't campaign in states with small democratic populations (e.g., Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota) and she lost big in those states. Instead she put all her eggs in the large state baskets (California, New York, Texas) and won only by small margins. She says that Obama can't carry those states; I call bullshit because democrats typically carry those states in presidential elections and I don't think November will be any different.

Now to the whole gender issue. Yes, I completely agree that there has been gender bias in this election. But it hasn't been by Obama, it's been by the media. In fact, I think Obama has run the cleanest most respectful campaign in recent history. It is a sad fact that misogyny is still marginally acceptable in society, whereas racism is not. Certainly there are still people who based their primary vote on race (see West Virginia and Kentucky), but it's not really culturally acceptable to say so. The flip side of that is that all of the racist comments happen in the shadows and I tend to think they may be more insidious. Regardless, it's been an issue during the primaries, and I don't think anyone can deny it, but until we get out there and rock the boat, so to speak, as both candidates have done things will never change.

One final thought for the day. Big J and I watched Bill Moyer's Journal Friday night (yes, total nerds, I know) and he interviewed Jeffrey Toobin about the potential changes on the Supreme Court and how the next president will affect the court. Holy crap. If you are a liberal and pro-choice how can you not vote for whomever receives the democratic nomination? If Ginsberg and Breyer retire, as expected, in the next few years and McCain is president, you can very well count on him appointing pro-life (or, as I like to refer to the constituency, anti-choice) judges. Toobin pointed out that Obama has been a scholar of the Supreme Court and understands the history and ramifications of who is appointed and the results of those appointments. I am not sure that McCain can say the same.