Race & The Race

I was wondering how long it would take for racism to rear its ugly head.

On the eve of the Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin, we have a new issue to contend with, that of racism. It comes as follows:

Gwen Ifill is moderating the debate tonight. As we have heard from our friends at Fox News, Gwen Ifill has written a book. The book, entitled The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. The book takes a look at a new wave of politicians -- politicians of African-American descent.

There has been an outcry from the right claiming this is unfair. She is biased, they say. She cannot conduct herself in a fair manner, they say. Even John McCain has jumped into the picture. “Frankly, I wish they had picked a moderator that isn’t writing a book favorable to Barack Obama, said John McCain on the show Fox and Friends. He later stated, "Life isn't fair."

Where was the outcry that Jim Lehrer, a former Marine, moderated the first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama? Mr. Lehrer, after all, has written books about the military.

The fact is, there shouldn't have been an outcry. Jim Lehrer is a journalist and did a capable job. Why, then, would the spinners at Fox not believe Gwen Ifill is capable of the same fairness.

There is only one difference. Gwen Ifill is black. That is the only reason why the right is able to cry foul.

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McCain's experience has been a selling point for his campaign. Barack Obama simply does not have the volume of experience that John McCain has. This is true. This does not, however, imply that John McCain is better qualified. Here are three reasons that "experience" is not a legitimate qualification here:

1) John McCain served for years in the military. He followed orders. In the Senate, he was not in an executive position. In fact, he may have less actual experience in leadership roles than Barack Obama. Even in his debate with Obama, McCain proved my point, consistently and continually going to the words of General Petraeus for his opinion of the war. Even in Iraq, where he is supposed to be far more experienced, he followed.

2) Experience does not equal ability to lead. Look again how each of them reacted to the financial crisis of last week. One remained calm. The other wanted to suspend his campaign. One assured his fellow citizens the country would survive it (quite presidential). The other seemed panicked and unsure of himself.

3) You would think that the more experienced candidate would have a clear timetable to get out of Iraq. Not true. While Obama has a set timetable and exit strategy, McCain continues to argue the difference between strategy and tactic. He still did not give an answer.

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Sarah Palin will be debating Joe Biden tonight. I'm sure many are predicting a debacle. I am not. I predict a Biden victory, most definitely. But there will be enough wiggle room at the end of the session that the Republicans will not have been knocked out. And they will likely go on the offensive tomorrow if that happens, claiming media bias (see above).

I just hope she knows a little bit more about the American media outlets and our justice system before tonight.