With Edwards out of the race, we can finally talk about "the elephant in the room"

[Horse with no Name]

I will speak for myself on this and I don't know how many other Edwards supporters felt this way, but the attitude of many Clintonites/Obamites was that we were voting for Edwards strictly because he was white.
Never mind that his stance on issues were my own, never mind that his values were my own, never mind that I would have picked him over the others even if we had bags over the heads of the other candidates and knew no gender and no race.
There were even comments that we simply were voting for him because he was white.
However, if anyone DARED to insinuate that THEY were voting for Obama simply because he was black, or for Hillary because she was female, they were branded racist/sexist.
In this instance in THIS Presidential race...John Edwards was discriminated against because he was a white male.
The media was too busy portraying a historical battle between gender and race...the only thing missing was Romans and a coliseum that there was really too little time left for them to mention "the other candidate".
In fact, during a debate...it was even blatantly said (paraphrased) that Edwards was "the white candidate".
There has been lots of guilt handed out during this election process. Racial guilt, gender guilt, etc.
I know that if the MSM was my only resource for news, the only things I would know about Obama were things the Clinton camp said and vice versa. There has been no talk of the "issues" surrounding this epic Presidential election. It has been strictly about CELEBRITY, and who the biggest one is.
But after all the dust settles...you can argue that Hillary has suffered prejudice because of her gender and Obama has suffered prejudice because of his race...but make no mistake, Edwards WAS discriminated against and ultimately has had to sacrifice simply for being a white man in the way of a ceiling being broken.
edited to fix typo

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. ROFLMAO.

Poor oppressed white men.

[AX10]

2. Sadly true.

Scumbag Larry O'Donnell said that Edwards was standing in the way of "the first black President".
The damn media ultimately made this about race.
It is sad to see Edwards leave the campaign.

[Yael]

3. Triple post

[Yael]

4. Triple post

[Levgreee]

9. I disagree that a white male never had a chance BECAUSE there was a black and female candidate

It was because they were was a very competent, electable black and female candidate.

Sure, all things equal(or near equal, if Edwards was just a slightly more attractive candidate) Edwards would've lost, but it wasn't the deciding issue IMO.

[OzarkDem]

27. Sorry, but in this case they were the inferior candidates

Judging candidates has to be done objectively, regardless of race or gender. I fear we're about to learn a difficult lesson here. Good luck, y'all.

[Yael]

5. A white man never had a chance in this year's race

Plain and simple, and I said this weeks ago.

This year is all about novelty.

When we lose in November to the (R) and they fuck things up even worse, all we can then hope for is that a strong progressive (whoever he or she may be) rises to the top for 2012.

[eleny]

6. He was the most progressive after my candidate, Kucinich

His medical plan included Medicare for all as a choice and that made him an attractive candidate to me.

Speak for yourself.

[Horse with no Name]

10. Yes.

I don't understand the snark. He IS the most progressive. He is the right man for the job...but the historical race vs. gender cause got in the way.

[eleny]

19. You presume race is an issue for all of us

I disagree. And so you know exactly how it is for me, I wasn't trying to be snarky with you - you got me ticked off. Kucinich and Edwards weren't the white guys, they were the progressives.

[Horse with no Name]

20. I think you misunderstood what I was saying

but you actually agree with me.

[eleny]

25. There is no elephant in the room

Race has been hashed and rehashed for some time now during this campaign. I don't know where you've been.

Please take the last word if you wish. I'm done with this bullshit.

[Horse with no Name]

28. Not looking for the last word here

But you are one of my favorite posters and I don't think you understood what I was saying.
Agree to disagree.

[GodlessBiker]

13. I think Gravel comes after Kucinich (or even before).

[eleny]

21. You're probably right

Too bad Gravel didn't temper himself during debates. He was quite calm and lucid during one on one interviews. He could have added common sense to the process. Your point is well taken.

[yy4me]

7. You are right on the money with your observation. I could not

agree more. It breaks my heart to know that a good man was ignored because we were too concerned that we not look as though we were against blacks or women.

Because a man is black or the candidate is a woman, they are no more or less qualified.

It is the brain and the message that counts, not anything else.

[Bucky]

8. The phrase "elephant in the room" refers to unaddressed problems, not massive delusions.

My advice is that you get out more and familiarize yourself with reality.

No serious Democrat would think that the only reason to vote for Edwards was his race or gender. Any idiot who told you that is just marginally less superficial than anyone who would take the time to respond seriously to such drivel.

[Horse with no Name]

11. How did you get off of my ignore list? n/t

[Xipe Totec]

12. I'm not sure discrimination is the right term to use here

It was more a lack of novelty factor; no angles for the media to exploit.

He was neither Ruben Studdard, Kimberly Locke, nor William Hung.

This really is a Roman Circus.

[LibDemAlways]

14. Hillary's or Obama's nomination will be "historic." However,

that's not a good enough reason for the party to nominate either one of them.

I never supported Edwards because of his race or gender. I supported him because he was the only candidate whose views on most issues dovetailed with mine.

It will be interesting to see what the final outcome is in November and whether Americans can overcome their prejudices to elect the first woman President or the first African American President.

[TwilightGardener]

15. I refused to give in to the temptation of thinking Obama lost in NH

because of racism, and I suggest you do the same with Edwards--it's very healthy to just accept a loss sometimes, rather than blaming outside factors that can never be proven. I am a white female who supports Obama, and race/gender were NOT factors in my decision to support him or anybody else. I imagine many on DU feel the same way, even though the media likes the historic angle this time around--if Obama had been a second-rate candidate, being black would not have gotten him very far, and if Hillary was a poor politician, she would have been a huge crash-and-burn, despite being a woman (remember, Liddy Dole ran--got lots of attention at first--lost anyway to Chimpy). Don't dismiss the political skills and first-class campaigns of Hillary and Obama because of their skin color or gender--that's very unfair.

[Horse with no Name]

18. It's not really hard to run a campaign with 24/7 news coverage

Please. Don't shit in a cup and tell me it's applesauce. I know better.
The media attention that both candidates have been given is worth more than money could ever buy.
When Edwards got 2nd in Iowa...the only thing that they could talk about was that Hillary came in last.
Instead of credit where credit was due...and talking about Edwards for a news cycle or two...the Hillbama lovefest continued.

[TwilightGardener]

29. You're talking about star-power now, not reverse discrimination.

Alan Keyes isn't getting much attention on the all-white R side, and Richardson didn't garner much interest despite being the first Hispanic candidate--because if a candidate sucks, all the blackness, brownness, or vaginas in the world isn't going to help. John didn't lose because he was white.

[JuniperLea]

16. I heard a radio talk show host start his program with...

"I'm so proud of Democrats today! They have shown how truly progressive we are by putting a woman and a black man in the lead for the race to the White House!"

I promptly changed the radio station.

Those are not good reasons to vote for someone. We are supposed to vote for the person who most closely represents the way we feel ON THE ISSUES!!! Sex and race means nothing!!!

I've been trying to put this thought out of my mind, but I do believe you are correct here.

[Onlooker]

17. I said I supported Obama because he was black

I always said I supported Obama first and Clinton second because I think after 230 years it's about time we got a person of color or woman into the White House. If we do that, it will open up the presidency to more than half of Americans, and we'll have far better choices than either Obama or Clinton in the future. Politically, I loved Edwards, but I felt I had to apply affirmative action to my views and make a compromise in my political views in order to get someone other than a white man in the White House. (Obviously, I don't think Obama and Clinton are bad; they just have boring safe Democratic positions.)

That said, I doubt if anyone in DU supported Edwards because he was a white man. This a a pretty progressive place. Nonetheless, I though it was interesting that in Iowa self-identified Democratic conservatives tended to support Edwards.

[THUNDER HANDS]

22. it had nothing to do with that

If John Kerry or Al Gore was in the race, does anyone doubt they would have fared better than Edwards did?

[surfermaw]

23. I think the biggest thing is that republians picked on of the candidates in order

To keep Edwards out of the race because they knew he would stop some of the Corporat junk going on. And he would put that tax back on the wealthiest 3 % just as Bill Clinton did and then went on to run the country better than any one since FDR... I can tell you all this , I have been Edwards since before I knew the name Obama and Hillary got in the race... I was for him all the way, and now I will vote for the next best person with experience, with this nation in the mess it is in we need the most expserienced and that Is HILLARY RODAM CLINTON Then I will know what I am getting ,not a young man wet behind the ears when it comes to running the Presidency....

[doc03]

24. I agree 100 %, yet again the GD MSM and a handful

of tiny conservative states have selected our victim for this election. Edwards ran a campaign of issues and Hillary and Obama talked a bunch of generalities about change and hope, what a f--ing crock. I have a general idea what Hillary is about from her past history but Obama all I have heard from him is he is going to change things. Well his idol Ronald Reagan changed things too and so did GWB. Don't give me this crap that he didn't agree with the change Reagan made. He said the American people were tired of ineffective and out of control government and they wanted the change. Ronald Reagan gave them that change and gave people hope, brought back accountability in government and a sense of entrepreneurship. That doesn't sound like criticism of Reagan to me.

[OzarkDem]

26. True, a real low point for the Democratic Party

a party where we are supposed to judge people by what they say and do, not by the color of their skin or their gender.

I fear the party will learn this difficult lesson the hard way, hurting all of us in the process.