Super Tuesday Raises Questions for Democrats

The odds are that Democratic presidential archrivals Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton will know no more about which of the two will be the party’s standard bearer after Super Tuesday than when the day started.

The early talk about the “inevitability” of Clinton’s march to the Democratic nomination has long since ceased. And any talk about Obama’s inevitability –
despite his rock star-sized crowds, poll surge and high profile endorsements – is just wishful thinking. Obama will win some of the 15 Democratic state primaries and seven caucuses – and one in American Samoa. In the biggest and most crucial delegate-
rich state of California, the delegates are parceled out proportionally, so both Clinton and Obama will get their share.

But even with no Clinton or Obama knockout punch on Super Tuesday, the day will answer some questions while raising a couple of larger questions for whichever one grabs the top Democratic prize.

The first question for Obama is: Will white voters en masse back an African-American candidate? Nearly every white voter in every poll profusely swears that they are colorblind, and many back pat Obama, and say they will vote solely on the basis of competence, qualifications and vision. They’ve said the same thing in head-to-head contests between black and white candidates in past elections and then, once in the privacy of the voting booth, done just the reverse. The result: the black candidate has gone down in flaming defeat.

Read More