2008 Woodie Awards
Are we there yet?
Clinton, Obama race one of the most exciting in history
By: Maria Spicketts
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Voices
1,191. 2,025.
Those are the magic numbers of delegates required to win the nominations for president from the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, this election cycle.
We have been paying attention to the names of potential candidates since after the 2006 midterm elections. By the time November rolls around, we will have experienced a two-year election cycle. It's enough to make non-politicos whine, "Are we there yet?"
Several of my non-politics-obsessed friends and colleagues at Central Michigan Life have asked that question. They, like most of you, are ready to have some answers, and are ready to begin supporting a candidate, even ready for the election to be over. The media is greatly responsible for this bloated election cycle, I will claim responsibility for that. Most of last year's campaigning? Yeah, it was unnecessary. It is completely self-serving for political junkies.
But the race now is 100 percent relevant. We are facing, in a few short months, a completely historic election, in which we will decide who is our nation's leader for four years.
It's February, Super Tuesday has passed, and we still don't have a nominee on either side. Is that a gift or curse?
I'm thinking a gift. It keeps these next few months relevant. It creates actual competition. By around this time four years ago, we all knew John Kerry would be the likely Democratic nominee, and of course George Bush would be the Republican one. Previously, upcoming primary states Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania would have been purely symbolic, because Kerry owned the title.
The Republican nominee is all but decided, but that's not where the story is. The tight race between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is where the intrigue is. For the first time, ever, we have the very real possibility that a woman or an African-American will be our president. How uninteresting would these next few months be for these remaining primaries to be going on with a nominee already decided?
Those are the magic numbers of delegates required to win the nominations for president from the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, this election cycle.
We have been paying attention to the names of potential candidates since after the 2006 midterm elections. By the time November rolls around, we will have experienced a two-year election cycle. It's enough to make non-politicos whine, "Are we there yet?"
Several of my non-politics-obsessed friends and colleagues at Central Michigan Life have asked that question. They, like most of you, are ready to have some answers, and are ready to begin supporting a candidate, even ready for the election to be over. The media is greatly responsible for this bloated election cycle, I will claim responsibility for that. Most of last year's campaigning? Yeah, it was unnecessary. It is completely self-serving for political junkies.
But the race now is 100 percent relevant. We are facing, in a few short months, a completely historic election, in which we will decide who is our nation's leader for four years.
It's February, Super Tuesday has passed, and we still don't have a nominee on either side. Is that a gift or curse?
I'm thinking a gift. It keeps these next few months relevant. It creates actual competition. By around this time four years ago, we all knew John Kerry would be the likely Democratic nominee, and of course George Bush would be the Republican one. Previously, upcoming primary states Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania would have been purely symbolic, because Kerry owned the title.
The Republican nominee is all but decided, but that's not where the story is. The tight race between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is where the intrigue is. For the first time, ever, we have the very real possibility that a woman or an African-American will be our president. How uninteresting would these next few months be for these remaining primaries to be going on with a nominee already decided?
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