The race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong...

Is presidential politics usually a sprint?  Well, in my mind, the Good Doctor's 50 State Strategy is like a relay race.   And until the Potomac Primaries?  We regular Michigan folks for Obama were standing on the sidelines.  Cheering, waving at the runners, reaching in our coolers to hand a bottle of water.  But never in the race itself.  The coaches responsible for us violated the rules, and as a result, our part of the team was benched.

"No fair!" some of us said.  "It was the coaches, not us!"

"Rules are rules," reminded others.  "We chose these coaches, and we've got to run a clean race."

So we watched from the sidelines, watching the baton get passed.  Iowa.  New Hampshire.  Nevada.  South Carolina.  Each state's team would run as fast as they could, as hard as they could, and as swiftly as they could.

There were a couple of times that we thought the baton was dropped... but no, that was just a fumble.  We were still in the race.  Amazingly, impossibly... but still, in.

On the eve of South Carolina, I worry very seriously about the fate of African American voters in November 2008.   Ever since FDR, most African Americans have firmly been on the side of the Party of Progress.  We've been through a lot together, from the New Deal to the integration of the armed forces, from federal desegregation orders to "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow".

More after the leap...

(First diary... please be gentle!)

I found JuliaGrey's diary today on the rec list very interesting reading:  
Old Farts, Go Home!

All the comments from Kossacks of various generations were fascinating, and very much in line with what I have been reading about how history not only shapes generations... but that generations shape history.

And our presidential candidates' generational place in time may affect their legacy in the coming Crisis... Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards... along with a few people who are not running for president at all.

In short, the Gray Champion is coming.