Obama Squanders Chance to Discuss Race
Democratic candidate Barack Obama made a speech last week that apparently holds historical potential for some Americans. This is one of those speeches that people say will be analyzed by our children in classrooms across the country for years to come. It was thought that Obama would be making this speech in order to distance himself from the radical viewpoints of his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but he also used this opportunity to discuss race as an issue in the United States and its relation to his campaign.
John McCain lost the Republican nomination in 2000 because he was too far left of the conservative base, and although he has seemed to move even farther left in the past few years, he is now the most likely candidate to represent the Republican Party in the 2008 general election. While the Democratic nomination is still up in the air, their two frontrunners have gained a lot of popularity, but unfortunately for the Democrats, neither candidate has a sure bet against Senator McCain.
The 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade sparked a variety of different reactions highlighting intense historical divisions over the issue of abortion. More than 100,000 pro-lifers took to the streets of Washington, D.C. protesting the decision, many of them solemn marchers with rosaries in one hand and posters displaying mutilated fetuses in the other. To the other extreme, there was an aura of celebration on Vanderbilt’s campus, including free condoms and abortion pamphlets on full display.
The release of the Mitchell Report early last month, stirred great controversies in the baseball world. The report, introduced by former Senator George J. Mitchell, was drafted in response to the recent with steroid use in Major League Baseball. According to Mitchell, this report consisted of an “investigation into the illegal use of steroid and other performance enhancing substances by players in major league baseball.” 
In the GOP primary for 2008, voters have a hard time to choose a candidate none of them seem to have it all. Each one has their strengths and their weaknesses. When it comes to social issues alone, it is a bit easier to track who the true conservatives are. 
If Hillary ends up winning the presidential election, then at least we can all move to France. That is the idea that many Americans got during the visit from the French President in early November. President Nicolas Sarkozy, or “Sarko the American” as his French opponents like to call him, seemed to be more American pride than the majority of U.S. citizens.
There always has to be the best of the worst in any competition, and when it comes to the Republican Presidential Primary, the award goes to Mike Huckabee. This is not to say that any of the candidates in this upcoming election are bad or unqualified, but just that there are the four candidates battling at the top, and Huckabee is the man that follows right behind them in the polls. 
