John Edwards and the Polls

That's right, John, scratch your head. I don't know either.

The polls in the hands of the mainstream media is like a gun in the hands of a child — it's just not a good combination. The media keeps quoting from these polls to claim Hillary Clinton's inevitable win in the Democratic Primaries. Firstly, there is no such thing as a national primary. Secondly, the media themselves seems to have made a choice for the nominee and are ramming it down our throat. And thirdly, who the hell is the media to tell us, the Democratic party, who our nominee should be? Do they have some awesome insight that that makes them the arbiter of all things? And since when does the press get to decide anything? I thought that they were just supposed to report the news, not make it. And that's what they are doing when they keep quoting from these national polls over and over and over, claiming that Hillary is "so far ahead that no one could possibly catch up." ... Bullshit!

It's clear why the Republicans would want Hillary to be our candidate, it increases their chances of spitting the country in half again (and a 50/50 election is all they need; they can steal the rest.) But why would the press want Hillary as our candidate? Are they that stupid? ... Oh yeah, right. I forgot.

If the press was actually doing their job then they would be reporting that the local polls are a remarkable contrast to the national ones. John Edwards is so far ahead it's not funny. (Hey, guys, that's called a story. How about digging into that one?) The media should be talking to actual Democrats. If they did they would find that there is a ground swell of support for the Edwards candidacy. Sometimes it feels like I'm going crazy because I support the Edwards campaign then his name comes up in conversation and every Democrat in the room brightens up to say the same thing: We like John!

This is no slam on Obama. I think he's a great guy and would make a great president ... someday. He needs more time in the oven to bake. (Not to mention he needs to learn how to tell his handlers in the Democratic Party to shut and sit down more often.) As a black woman, I'm proud to have such a man running for high office but I also think that it just won't happen. The Bradley effect will be double in the case of the Presidency. I just don't see white people really pulling that lever for a black man at this point in time. They have changed some, but not that much. (Too honest for you, sorry, but it's the truth. This is a country that can sit idly by and watch a city full of black people drown. There are a few white people who have their act together, but the majority are racist as all hell.)

"But, Jenn," you ask, "how can you say this and still support a white guy for President?"

Because I'm black not stupid. The best we can do at this point is nominate a good guy that is electable. We need someone who will work to pull America out of the muck we find ourselves in because of the Bush Administration. I think John Edwards is that guy ... and so do a lot of other people.