IOWA Primaries – Mr. Obama plays the Race Card?

The after vote speeches were a great window into the character and personality of the candidates. I was surprised to hear Ms. Clinton speak as if she and her husband were the patriarchs of the party. I immediate thought that this was truly a fantastic way to look at the election. This new way to talk to the party would also appeal to the independent voters who, like me, cannot vote for someone they do not like. My positive thoughts ended almost immediately as she began her “I, I, I.” After only a couple of minutes of her typical rhetoric I completely tuned her out so I cannot tell you how she finished.

I was looking forward to the Obama speech. He kept us waiting until the others had finished. I was seriously disappointed. He began with this southern Baptist repeating one phrase over and over again as if his speech was on an LP album that had a scratch. Once he began speaking he talked as if he won the Presidential election. The Martin Luther King speech structure seemed both inappropriate and pretentious. Come on Mr. Obama, it’s the IOWA Caucus.

I had already heard the Huckabee and Edwards speeches and I expected a message about the American people. I thought he would recognize the difficulties this country is facing and talk about how he intended to lead us to a better future. I expected him to explain how we are going to achieve the things we hope for instead we had the Sunday afternoon sermon. While he used the word hope it was merely a stage prop. He began with the Jesse Jackson rhetoric (nothing against Jesse Jackson). I did not know this was an election about race issues. I thought we were trying to elect a President of the United States. I support many of his ideas because they are good but there was something that I did not understand about his motivations. Perhaps it is this Rainbow Coalition influence that explains the lack of continuity in the message.

Huckabee presented an inspirational speech. I do not think religion has a place in government so I cannot be excited about his victory. At the same time, his speech was good. He spoke of unity, future, of love and moving toward the future as a people. I would not vote for Mr. Huckabee but the content of his speech was right on. If he were to win the Presidential election I would not see it as a negative.

Edwards is a long time politician. By definition corrupt. He is exactly what I think needs to eliminated from Washington. His message was inspiring and his process was clear. I am entirely skeptical but his message was exactly what this country needs. He acknowledged the problems we are facing. He did not imply that the government would fix things. He recognized that the American people are the ones who would be required to sacrifice to return this nation to its great status. He did not use the word "Hope" over and over again but did present a vision of hope for a better world for our children.

Unfortunately all of this is just rhetoric. I have not seen one of the candidates really taking on the issues. I would be much more convinced of a candidate’s intentions if they were to procure the release of the two border agents imprisoned for doing their job protecting America.