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Race and Gender Make Democrats' Field Historic
For all the potential history-in-the-making of their candidacies, neither Clinton nor Obama enters the campaign primarily because of race or gender. Obama is the son of a Kenyan father and white American mother, but his candidacy is not comparable to that of Jesse L. Jackson in 1984, when the civil rights leader first sought the presidency. Jackson's candidacy was largely about breaking racial barriers. Although Obama's could become that, his appeal appears not fundamentally based on his race.
Clinton has risen to the top of the Democratic field not principally because she is a woman but because she is part of a power couple that has dominated the party since the early 1990s, as well as by virtue of her long experience as a party activist, first lady and now senator.
  Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina is likely to be a formidable contender in 2008. (By Kathy Willens -- Associated Press) |
Still, there is no way to underestimate the significance of race and gender in the coming campaign. "They certainly have not practiced identity politics, but it is a huge part of who they are when they go out and present themselves as presidential candidates," said Democratic strategist Anita Dunn.
The election of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as the nation's first female House speaker underscored to many Democrats the potential power of Clinton's candidacy, and Clinton strategists agree. "I think a serious female candidate for president will generate an awful lot of excitement and enthusiasm, especially among younger voters and among women," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in an e-mail message.
Party strategists say it would be a mistake to cast the Democratic contest as a two-person race, even though Clinton and Obama occupy a significant amount of space and both may be able to raise more money than others in the field.
Obama and Clinton advisers already see Edwards as a formidable candidate, in part because of his strong support in Iowa, whose caucuses will kick off the nominating calendar. The rest of the prospective field includes two of the most senior senators in the party and two governors with notable attributes. Waiting on the sidelines is former vice president Al Gore.
"There is such a compulsion on the part of the political community and political media community to create a steel cage match between Clinton and Obama you can almost see the fight posters," Axelrod said. "That's not the way he views it."
Still, there is no doubting the amount of space Obama and Clinton occupy as the campaign begins -- or the significance if either ends up as the Democratic nominee in 2008.
