CAMPAIGN NOTES

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Sam Smith

I have seldom seen a campaign so driven by symbolism and so weak on
substance. For example, among the Democrats we have had little talk of
the collapse of our constitutional government or global warming but
endless and futile discussion of race and gender. After all, if you
believe in equality in such matters, it is a given that both saints and
sinners of humanity are fairly distributed by ethnicity and sex.
Therefore knowing that Clinton is a woman or Obama is half black tells
you little. In fact, if voters were only given the policies of the
candidates, and didn't know their demographics, John Edwards would be
the most logical major candidate for real Democrats of whatever size,
shape or color.

But then, for many, being a Democrat or a liberal is primarily a symbol
as well. These people might be described as transpoliticals, which is to
say that what they wear on their bodies and put on their faces doesn't
quite match what is under their pants. They call themselves liberals but
they don't lift a finger on behalf of such issues as single payer
healthcare or pensions or outsourcing.

Liberals used to believe in doing the most for the most. What is so
remarkable about the Edwards campaign is that he is the first real
liberal of this ilk to make a major run for the White House since Lyndon
Johnson - but too many people who call themselves liberals don't even
notice. They put on their I love blacks and women faces and call it a
day.

Related is one of Edwards' other problems: he is a white southern male.
I have been a bit startled by the amount of northern liberal prejudice
against him because of this. These supposed lovers of diversity ridicule
him and in doing so make it easier for the right to capture the votes of
people who talk like him. Having been born in segregated DC and having
covered its transition to a majority black city, I know the difference
between understanding the complexities of ethnic relations and merely
pronouncing about them. Remember it was a white southerner, Lyndon
Johnson who, with the help of Adam Clayton Powell, got more good civil
rights legislation passed then we have seen since. It could happen again
if fewer Democrats were less self righteous about their symbols.

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