Democratic Party Super Delegate System: Why and How

Mitt Romney: Pounding a Round Peg Into A Square Hole

HOWARD FINEMAN writes:

Here lieth the campaign of Mitt Romney, victim of the mistaken belief that the only way to succeed in national Republican politics was to turn yourself into something you are not. Or maybe the campaign revealed what his closest friends never imaged him to be. They thought he was a decent classy guy. But maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was a good fellow who didn't know enough about national politics and listened to people who gave him bad, cynical advice.

Sen. John McCain was in a good position before; now it's hard to imagine that he won't wrap up the nomination in the next week or two. His lone remaining serious opponent, Mike Huckabee, has exceeded expectations, but expecting him to be able to unhorse McCain is perhaps expecting too much.

I have covered a lot of presidential campaigns, and I can't think of one that so lost its way-so expensively-as that of the former governor of Massachusetts. A board room and business favorite, a man with a Midas managerial touch, he was widely admired and even beloved. But he was a Republican of an old moderate school-that of his own father-and, like George W. Bush, Romney the Younger decided that he had to jettison all that he was to become something that he was not.

44 Million Registered Young Voters

CNN reports this morning that in the 2008 Presidential race, 44 million young voters are registered and also involved as well as excited about the upcoming election. These voters will make a difference in the outcome of this fall's election day.

A Handful of Them Odd

The myth of color blindness by CYNTHIA TUCKER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/20/08

After a recent column describing Barack Obama as "a presidential candidate who happens to be black — not a black presidential candidate," I received countless responses from readers, a handful of them odd. That odd handful declared they take no notice of superficial traits such as skin color, and they took me to task for making any reference to Obama's race.

"I thought of [Obama] as a person. I did not see black or white or Hispanic or that he was a man — I saw a person! If people really, truly want racial equality — then the first step has to be to STOP looking at skin color," wrote one reader.

"When I look at a person, the last thing I think about is skin color or heritage," wrote another.

Sorry, but I'm not buying it. While I am sympathetic to any desire to get past dated and useless habits of mind — especially the contentious politics of the color line — that's just nonsense. Not one of us, black, white or brown, is colorblind.

I think Ms. Tucker is incorrect. I know that there are many times that I do not notice the color of someone's skin just as I realize that I often miss that a person is in a wheelchair until after I have walked away from them. This color blindness or blindness to a superficial element may not be present each and every time I am with the person, but I know there are many times I do not notice the superficial, and that does include skin color. Sort of like not noticing someone's new haircut or glasses... yes, it is as simple as that.

Western Kenya's Escalating Ethnic Violence: 800 Dead

ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY writes:

NAIVASHA, Kenya - Gangs of youths armed with machetes and clubs fought running battles with police on Sunday and burned tribal rivals alive in their homes in western Kenya, pushing the death toll from a month of escalating ethnic violence to nearly 800.

Sunday marked exactly one month since the Dec. 27 disputed president election that sparked the violence that has transformed this once-stable African country, pitting longtime neighbors against each other and turning towns where tourists used to gather for luxury holidays into no-go zones.

25 People Killed: Kenya's Flawed Presidential Election

ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY writes:

NAKURU, Kenya - Men sobbed as police unloaded 16 charred bodies at a mortuary in this western Kenyan city. People with machete and arrow wounds overwhelmed the main hospital and were forced to share beds. Hundreds of homeless took shelter at a church.

And even as Nakuru struggled to recover from an explosion of political violence, there were signs Saturday that it was far from over. Those whose homes were burned vowed revenge. Gunshots rang out, and youths with sticks manned roadblocks.

At least 25 people were killed when the turmoil over Kenya's deeply flawed presidential election finally reached Nakuru, the country's fourth-largest city that had largely been spared the unrest. Men fought street battles with homemade guns, machetes and bow and arrows, while mobs torched hundreds of homes.

At the city mortuary, police wearing rubber gloves unloaded 16 burned bodies. Men standing by broke down in tears.

"I have never experienced this in my country," one man said, his face marked with grief. "I just pray that our leaders end this thing immediately."

Riots and ethnic fighting following the Dec. 27 vote have killed more than 700 people nationwide and forced 255,000 from their homes.

Kenya's flawed election system with resulting ethic and political violence should make us here in the United States realize that even though the confederate flag is still flying over South Carolina's statehouse, mass killings and violence have not erupted over Barack, Hillary, and John. Thank God.