How would the race be different if Obama was white or if Hillary was not the former first lady?

[Czolgosz]

[Perky]

1. Immensly. Al Gore would have sowed up the nomination by now.

[MNDemNY]

2. Or how about if Obama was a rooster, and Hillary was a antelope?

[maddiejoan]

4. I was wondering about

if Obama was a food processor and Hillary was shoe buffer.

[MNDemNY]

6. How about a penguin and a doorstop, respectively?

[maddiejoan]

8. To me it's more like

a jack rabbit and a barn owl.

[ellacott]

5. funny

[MNDemNY]

7. I wish it were.

[Jamastiene]

3. Uhm, Oprah would not have her millions of viewers

voting for him and Hillary would be questioned a bit more about her vote for the Iraq War.

[Renew Deal]

10. Are you Greek?

I understand your signature.

[Renew Deal]

9. There would be no Hillary

She would have never been elected to the NY senate. She also wouldn't have the name recognition, or built in establishment support.

[Czolgosz]

11. If Hillary wasn't a former first lady, would her candidacy differ from a Dianne Feinstein candidacy?

[wyldwolf]

12. If Obama was white...

The Black Commentator would not have 'shamed' him off the DLC's New Democrats list and "progressives" would hate him.

[Czolgosz]

13. Would we agree that Ken Salazar (elected to Senate in 2004 with Obama) isn't ready to be president?

[yellowcanine]

15. Irrelevant. I don't think Bobby Byrd is "ready to be president"

And Strom Thurmond never was. Some people will never be ready. Some people are probably ready even if they never have been elected to anything. Elected office experience is great, yes, but it is not everything.

[Stop Cornyn]

18. If your point is that a white candidate with Obama's excellent but short resume, vague platform, and

undistinguished legislative record wouldn't get a second look, I agree.

[indimuse]

14. "My name is Hillary and I am so pleased to have most of you on board,"

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 59 minutes ago



LAS VEGAS - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed her traveling press corps aboard her campaign plane Wednesday with a humorous riff on the standard flight attendant speech familiar to commercial air travelers.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard the maiden flight of Hill Force One," Clinton said over the plane's intercom as it taxied down the runway en route to Reno, Nev.

Nevada holds precinct caucuses Saturday; polls show Clinton in a tight three-way contest here with Barack Obama and John Edwards.

"My name is Hillary and I am so pleased to have most of you on board," she said. "FAA regulations prohibit the use of any cell phones, Blackberries or wireless devices that may be used to transmit a negative story about me.

"In a few minutes, I am going to switch off the 'Fasten Your Seat Belt' sign. However, I've learned lately that things can get awfully bumpy when you least expect it — so you might want to keep those seat belts fastened.

"And in the event of an unexpected drop in poll numbers, this plane will be diverted to New Hampshire.

"If you look out from the right, you will see an America saddled with tax cuts for the wealthiest and a war without end. If you look out from the left, you will see an America with a strong middle class at home and a strong reputation in the world.

"Once we've reached cruising altitude, we'll be offering in-flight entertainment: my stump speech.

"Once again, thank you for joining us on Hill Force One. We know you have choices when you fly, and so we are grateful that you chose the plane with the most experienced candidate."

[yellowcanine]

16. These kinds of hypotheticals are not all that useful. Fact is, Hillary is who she is and

Obama is who he is and we need to deal with the reality of that, not these political fantasies. I don't see what purpose it serves.

[TokenWasp]

17. If Obama was white - Hilliary would be WAY ahead...

Obama's main selling point is that he's not just another white guy.

Take a white guy with his experience and he would get the time of day - or the amount of money.

I don't think Hillary would even be running - she would not have been elected Senator without the name recognition.

[noamnety]

19. Related question

How would the race be different if this country didn't have a history of racism and sexism?

It's easy to question whether Clinton's experience and name recognition came through her marriage.

It's a little less comfortable to ask why it is that the only viable female candidate we've ever had for president is one who got where she is through recognition of her husband.

Even less comfortable to realize what a losing situation this is - if the only path proven to work to get to this level is through people respecting and recognizing the man you're married to, and we slam any woman who does have name recognition because of her spouse, well, that's sort of a lose-lose situation for women. Our culture doesn't give the same respect or opportunities to women, and when one manages to get through the cracks, we immediately blame her for succeeding within the system.

There's a reason these are the first two items on the Male Privilege Checklist:

1 My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.

2 I can be confident that my co-workers won't think I got my job because of my sex - even though that might be true.

Same holds true for a black man running for office. 200 years, no viable black candidates, now that we have one, instead of focusing on why we didn't for all these long years, we want to examine whether maybe he's only here because of his race.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

20. I think Hillary would look like kind of a lightweight compared to, say, Barbara Boxer...

my two cents...

[Colobo]

21. I'll be supporting Obama anyway. His message and vision for America

are excellent.