Amidst the shambles of the 2004 elections, there were two spots of hope
for the Senate Democrats -- the seats they had wrested in Illinois and
Colorado. At first blush, it would appear that both blossoms have
merely flattered to deceive. Both Barack Obama (D-Ill) and Ken Salazar
(D-Co) had excellent opportunities this week to strike a blow for
America. They appear, instead, to have limited themselves to a narrow
view of their roles. At a crucial time, both failed to stand up and be
counted -- one sparklingly, and the other bumbling. The lone black
member of the current senate could not bring himself to vote against
Condoleezza Rice for Secretary of State. Obama, who took only a minute
to take apart Condi Rice's high rhetoric conflating tyranny and terror,
stopped short of ascribing mendacity, and even if he thought doing so
was discourteous, there was no compulsion to end up voting for her
confirmation anyway. This was sad enough. But any allegation that he
let Ms. Rice's color influence him is probably untrue. For he exploded
this canard, stopping at the perimeter of political risk, or as Clinton
famously called it, "maintaining viability within the system". We
didn't, after all, see Obama stand with Barbara Boxer to challenge the
Ohio vote and a decry an election where thousands of black people were
effectively denied the vote. [more]
Obama & Rice: Looking Black and talking white [more]