The race for the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination has heated up between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Much of their time has been spent bantering back and forth about each other’s experience on dealing with various issues, chiefly foreign policy. Recently, however, things have gotten slightly messier. Once again, the Democratic Party has proven that a single election cannot go by without race being brought into the fray.

he issue of race emerged when Clinton commented on Dr. Martin Luther King’s work concerning civil rights. Clinton expressed her thoughts that President Lyndon Johnson was perhaps the most influential person, and politician, in terms of making Dr. King’s dreams come true. The statement, as she actually spoke, was not racist at all, and it is a precarious and clumsy stretch to make it about race. The Obama campaign did not issue an official reply. The media, however, jumped full force into the issue, and proceeded to make wild accusations and implications that have so far only proven to be divisive.
It is obvious that the candidates, Clinton and Obama, have dealt with the situation as nicely as they can. Rumors that the controversy was begun by the Clinton campaign in order to label Obama, who has avoided rhetoric concerning race, as the “Black” candidate, is not unlikely, but rather unfounded. Such a label would indeed be devastating for Obama. It would reduce him to the candidacies of al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, candidates whose campaigns were so charged with race even liberal-minded voters were turned off. Obama’s savior, quite possibly, is the grace in which he has dealt with the situation. Obama could have made the issue as much about politics as Clinton could have, but he chose not to take the route of exploitation. Instead, he correctly identified the media as the fanner of the flames and declined to elaborate any further, other than to say his campaign had not officially addressed the issue.

he most despicable and disgusting part of the entire ordeal is the Democratic Party’s inability to move away from the politics of race. Liberals can’t do this, in part, because of the support given to them from the media and racial “activists” like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Both the media and the Sharpton and Jacksons of the world are the beneficiaries of race-based politics. Nothing produces a better news story than a good tale of racial injustice that is guaranteed to cause strife and harsh feelings among Americans. Sharpton and other race-based professionals are exactly that. Their entire careers are based off racial injustice. Without it, Sharpton or Jackson would have never been able to run for President or come within a mile of a news camera. In short, their career would be nonexistent.

he fact that the media, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and other like-minded criminals can profit from the promotion and fabrication of race-based politics is perhaps the most despicable of untold stories. The continued exploitation of race to generate personal or political gains is evil, insensitive, and bad for America. In a world that now contains terrorists who wish to attack and kill Americans, all Americans, regardless of color or nationality, it is essential that this country be as united as possible. There is no doubt that improvements can always be sought and made, but this kind of politics no longer has a place in America. The Democratic Party will never be able to get away from the politics of race, however, if they do not decisively stand up and make it clear that the party finds the media’s actions wrong and the completely incorrect course of action. Additionally, Democrats need to tell the al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons that their type of hate-filled rhetoric and political games are not acceptable any longer. Finally, the American people, liberal and conservative alike, need to speak loudly and firmly. Make it known that America does not need this political game anymore. It is time this country be forever one and one forever.