Politics

  • Redemption Along the High Road

    The high road is a hard road. Barack Obama is often compared to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his soaring rhetoric and charismatic grace. But on Tuesday I night I realized that Obama is more like King in another way: He is leading a 21st Century non-violent, political campaign. Over the past week…

  • A House Divided

    I am tired of trying to explain this to my husband, so I’ll explain it to you instead. I have been an advocate for the civil rights of African Americans since back when we were called Negroes. Growing up during the 50s and 60s in Chicago, I was well aware of the fault lines of…

  • Give the People What They Want

    In a competitive primary season, the question of endorsements is always a hot topic. But this year, the jockeying for support has reached its zenith with the tightly contested race for the Democratic nominee threatening to go all the way to the Democratic National Convention and being potentially decided by “superdelegates,” a pool of elected…

  • Let It Be Over

    Even though I live in Ohio, I don’t have a clue which Democrat will win the state’s presidential primary today. At this point, I almost don’t care. I just want it to be over.The newspaper where I work reported over the weekend that it’s “neck and neck.” It said Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York…

  • Talking the Talk, Walking on Water

    The man does not merely have supporters. He has disciples. Sen. Barack Obama’s rhetorical themes clearly tap into the religious subconscious and spiritual sensibilities of Americans. Obama has cleverly become the first contemporary American politician to successfully collapse the distinction between religion and politics—all without ever using explicitly religious language. The fervor of the excited…

  • Committed: Why I'm Sticking With Hillary

    In late 2006, I made the choice to support Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, long before Sen. Barack Obama or even Hillary herself had declared their candidacies. My decision to support her was not one that was self-serving. My support was, and still is, based on her consistent support of issues that are important to…

  • Watch Your Back, Barack

    Legend has it that early in his political career, aspiring Texas politico Lyndon Baines Johnson ran a campaign in which his camp started a rumor that his opponent was having sex with his farm animals. There was never any hint of truth to the charge. Still, his opponent spent all his time trying to put-off…

  • Fool Me Once …

    I’m disgusted with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Not merely because they played the race card on Barack Obama, but because they’ve done it before. It worked to perfection for them in 1992. I saw it up close when I was a part of the Los Angeles Times’ political team covering Bill Clinton’s successful bid for…

  • Comfort Level Rising

    CLEVELAND – Well, that wasn’t much of a debate. Not that I expected it to be. As Democratic presidential hopefuls criss-crossed Ohio last week in search of votes, their respective debate strategies became obvious long before they took the stage.Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York would attack, throwing all her best punches to frustrate Sen.…

  • Please Leave it Behind

    Enough, I get it already! Hillary is different than Bush. Barack is different than Bush. At the risk of sounding outright crazy, I think they both need to be more like Bush — for the sake of our children. Let me explain. Less than 12 months into office, President George W. Bush pushed in the…