Obama '08?

I heard Edwards say that as a white man, not a black and not a woman, he is the only candidate that can compete with and beat John McCain. I heard it, he said it.

EDWARDS: I would just add on it's just really important for primary voters in South Carolina and all the other subsequent primaries to understand they're not just voting in a primary.

They're voting to establish what we're going to be doing next November and who our candidate will be next November. And it's becoming increasingly likely, I think, that John McCain is going to be the Republican candidate.

Now, here's what we have to be thinking about. Who will be tough enough and strong enough? And who can compete against John McCain in every place in America?

You know, I believe that I won't just be here campaigning in the South Carolina primary. When I'm the Democratic nominee, I'll be back in South Carolina campaigning for the general election.

And we can't concede places like South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, all these places around America where we know, everyone knows, that we always do well -- all three of us have been through this -- we always do well in Chicago, or New York, or Los Angeles, Seattle.

We do well in the big urban areas. The question is: Are we competitive in the rural areas, in the tougher places for Democrats to compete?

And the only thing I would say -- and I think it has nothing to do with race and gender. Let me be really clear about that. It's amazing now that being the white male...

OBAMA: You're feeling all defensive about it, John. It's all right, man.

EDWARDS: ... is different.

What I was going to say, though, is being able to go everywhere in America and campaign and to compete -- and I grew up in the rural south, in small towns all across the rural south, and I think I can go everywhere and compete head-to-head with John McCain.

And, actually, the last time I saw one of your polls that had all three of us against John McCain, I was the one that beat John McCain everywhere in America.

(APPLAUSE)

And I think we need to be able to have a candidate when people are voting -- it's not the only consideration. Lord knows, if you don't agree with what we stand for, and you don't believe in us, our character and our ability to lead this country, you should not vote for us, no matter what it means for the general election.

But if you believe in our passion, our strength, our toughness, our independence from these special interests -- I've never taken money from a Washington lobbyist or a special interest PAC, which is different than these two guys, over our whole career.

But what I would say that I think what that means is I can go anywhere in America and compete against John McCain and win.

OBAMA: Hillary, we just had the tape. You just said that I complimented the Republican ideas. That is not true.

What I said -- and I will provide you with a quote -- what I said was is that Ronald Reagan was a transformative political figure because he was able to get Democrats to vote against their economic interests to form a majority to push through their agenda, an agenda that I objected to. Because while I was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.

(APPLAUSE)...

...CLINTON: Now, I just -- I just want to be clear about this. In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript. You talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative political leader. I did not mention his name.

OBAMA: Your husband did.

CLINTON: Well, I'm here. He's not. And...

OBAMA: OK. Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

(APPLAUSE)

I really don't get why people are so upset over pointing out Reagan reached across the isle... which he did brilliantly.

"I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not," Obama said. "He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

OCCOM BILL wrote:

I really don't get why people are so upset over pointing out Reagan reached across the isle... which he did brilliantly.

Well, I cant speak for anyone else, but what I objected to was not that he said that Reagan reached across the isle, or that he said that Reagan "changed the trajectory of America".

What I was upset by was how he praised Reagan in terms of representing a push back against "all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s [when] government had grown and grown", and that he said Reagan represented "a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing".

I mean, I know that you would agree with that, and so would Okie and Georgeob1 and Tico, but I certainly dont, and moreso, I think its the kind of rightwing talking points that no progressive should repeat or help to validate. For the reasons that Krugman (see last page) explained much better than I could.

Identity politics worry me, in this case. It's plainly obvious that Hillary is winning due to a large turnout by women; are they all won over by her policy positions, or her stance, or her preparedness? Hell no; they are voting for a fellow woman.

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Identity politics worry me, in this case. It's plainly obvious that Hillary is winning due to a large turnout by women; are they all won over by her policy positions, or her stance, or her preparedness? Hell no; they are voting for a fellow woman.

Do you worry in the same way about black people voting for Obama, or is it just the women's identity politics that bother you?

Cyclo has it right; women are voting for Hillary based on gender and not much else.