News-Record.com

"both candidates vying for the state's Democratic gubernatorial nomination have endorsed the Illinois senator."

Both?

Not sure what your comment is directed at.

Both Moore and PErdue have endorsed, if you didn't catch one or the other.

A lot of national writers regularly ignore candidates such as Col. Neilsen.

Well, that's my point exactly, Mark. There are three candidates in the race.

No, there are three people registered to run for the office. The take the AP would have, and I would tend to agree, is that there are only two who have done the things that are necessary to have a legitimate shot at winning.

Yeah? I think those who make such evaluations should publish a disclaimer with their articles that they are making those kinds of determinations and publish the criteria by which they decide, or maybe it would be better to just be accurate in the first place.

You know, this is something that we in the newspaper business struggle with quite a bit. I've written (here:
http://blog.news-record.com/staff/capblog/archives/2008/03/us_senate_race.shtml )
about how those decisions get made.

When I first started writing about politics, I was gung-ho to give everyone an equal shake. The longer I've stuck about, the argument that equal isn't always fair has gotten more and more traction.

Part of that, sad to say, is a resource issue on the newspaper industries part.

But a larger, and more significant part is simply this: Filing to run for election is like filing a lawsuit - anyone can do it regardless of the chances of success or whether they actually intend to pursue the thing. If you don't do the work required of an election campaign, why should others bail you out?

In local races, that's a bit harder line to draw and one, with rare exceptions, that doesn't get drawn.

In statewide races, it's a lot easier to see. In a state the size of North Carolina, there are certain things you have to do in order to have a shot: raise a little bit (not a ton, but some) of money, do some advertsising (radio and internet would suffice if you can't make TV) campaign on your own independent of media-create opportunities, etc...

Again, I'm not saying it's the ideal. But here's the flip side for the person who wrote that AP summary:

If he says there are three candidates in the race, isn't he implying that there are three candidates with roughly equivalent shots at winning - three people who are all equally engaged? That's simply not the case.

Obama might be leading on points in the first 14th rounds, however, I predict a TKO, by Hillary, in the 15th.

Some people talk changes and some people are involved in changes. Obama talk changes and civil rights because the color of his skin. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton has been making changes since 1962. According to her Biography " A WOMAN IN CHARGE" she was first introduced to civil rights, at the age of 15, when she first attended a sermon by the late great Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr in the state of Illinois. She even waited to shake his hand after his Motivational Speech was over. Also in high school she was a babysitter ,of children , for immigrant workers who worked out in the fields.

In 1965 she took a black female friend with her to an all white church in Wellesley Massachusetts. This was doing the first few weeks of her freshman year and only 10 blacks were enrolled at Wellesley College at that time. In 1966, afte becoming President of the Wellesley Student Union, she was able to negotiate with college staff about increasing black enrollments and black faculties. By the end of her senior year (1969), at Wellesley, civil rights and changes had improved remarkably. She also participated in other non-violent civil rights rallys and against the Vietnam War. She would later fight for abusive kids, abusive kid rights and other civil rights.