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Democratic Primaries: A Race to Remember With the two leading Democratic presidential candidates looking somewhat different than the traditional white male presidential candidate, many hope this race will be remembered as the one that finally broke the “hardest glass ceiling”. But which will it be? Will the Democratic candidate be an African American or a woman? Looking a current poll data, Senator Hilary Clinton leads among registered Democrats, with Senator Barack Obama coming in second, according to CNN polls (www.cnn.com). “I am not as well known as Senator Clinton and some of the other candidates in this race,” Obama claims as the reason for Clinton’s significant lead. After a year of campaigning, though, it is hard to believe that people really don’t know who he is. His campaign maintains that, while people may know who he is, many have no idea what the senator stands for, and as that changes in the coming months, so will the polls. According to the polls, the three most important issues in the 2008 presidential campaign are the war in Iraq, the economy, and health care. The war in Iraq may cause problems for Clinton, who voted for the war in Iraq in 2002, but is now against it. Obama, while he was not in office in 2002, has been against the war and promises to begin “a phased withdrawal of troops” and set a timetable for withdrawal as soon as he is president. The economy may swing voters towards Clinton, with many remembering the era of economic growth and prosperity under her husband’s administration. Even many African Americans say they would vote for Hillary, but this is not surprising considering Bill Clinton was so well liked among blacks. Household income increased by 17.3 percent among African Americans from 1998 to 2001 (www.democrats.org). Health care could go either way, with each candidate backing their won plan for solving America’s health care problems. In the latest debate, the two candidates battled it out over their respective health care plans. “[Obama’s] plan would leave 15 million Americans out,” Clinton declared, promoting her plan for universal health care. Obama responded, saying his plan does not leave anyone out, it simply does not mandate it for everyone. “We have put forward a plan that makes sure that it is affordable to get health care that is a good as the health care that I have as a member of Congress.” Two senators will continue to campaign as the first primaries approach. Right now, the polls predict Senator Clinton to win over Senator Obama, with women overwhelmingly voting for her. Among all men, she enjoys somewhat less of a lead, but among African American men she is trailing Obama 46 to 42 percent (www.cnn.com). While Clinton does hold a lead among registered Democrats, Obama has been closing in over the last few weeks. With some time left until the first primaries, it is impossible to predict who will win the race to become the next democratic presidential candidate. |
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