Politics

Starting Gate: Race And Gender Unavoidable In '08

By Vaughn Ververs

January 14, 2008 / 9:01 AM EST / CBS News

3689588"I don't think this campaign is about gender," Hillary Clinton said in a nationally televised talk show yesterday, "and I sure hope it's not about race." For most of the past week, the Democratic primary contest has been about both, of course. And, really, wasn't that always going to turn out to be the case?

When Clinton complained that the male candidates had banded together against her following a particularly poor debate performance, she was roundly criticized for playing the "gender" card and casting herself as an unlikely victim. In Iowa, Barack Obama won the support of more women than men in his victory there. But women rallied to Clinton's side in New Hampshire, giving her their votes in the kind of wide margins that had been expected. Whether it was her widely-reported teary-eyed moment on the eve of the primary, sisterhood or contrarianism, Clinton erased what appeared to be a large Obama lead virtually overnight.

For a year, journalists have visited African American barbershops and hair salons in South Carolina probing for the mood among the crucial segment of the Democratic vote in the state. Black voters are expected to cast up to half of the votes in the January 26th primary. The Clintons have enjoyed tremendous support among black voters – Bill Clinton is famously known as the "first black president." Now Mrs. Clinton finds herself locked in a tight campaign with someone who could fulfill that role – and rob her of an equally historic opportunity.

The Clintons can't be surprised that recent comments emanating from their camp are getting the kind of attention they are. Hillary Clinton's statement that it was President Johnson who made the Civil Rights Act a reality may have buttressed her argument that political experience counts but it also appeared to denigrate Martin Luther King Jr. Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" remark and the apparent re-insertion of Obama's past drug use combined to create the kind of bitter back-and-forth we saw throughout the weekend.

If we've learned anything over the course of the first two contests of 2008, it's that voters will decide what the campaign will be about. But gender and race are undeniably a major part of the Democratic primary contest. Nobody should pretend differently.

Tight GOP Race In Michigan Polls: Is Mitt Romney's Michigan strategy paying off? According to a recent spate of polls for tomorrow's contest, it just may be. A Detroit Free-Press poll has Romney leading John McCain 27 percent to 22 percent while a new McClatchy News/MSNBC poll has Romney up 30 percent to 22 percent. Other polls, notably one by the Detroit News, show McCain with a slight lead.

Jobs are the issue in the economically depressed state and Romney has been making the most of his CEO experience and ties to the state. McCain will visit the North American International Auto Show and meet with industry leaders today and Mike Huckabee, locked in a solid third in most of the polls attended church services in the state yesterday evening. For Romney, anything less than a victory in this suddenly-critical state would be a setback for his campaign. For McCain and Huckabee, both looking to score a win in South Carolina on Saturday, a better-than-expected showing in Michigan would provide a boost heading to the Palmetto state.

Press "Fascinated" With Creationism? Huckabee Not So Much: Huckabee seems to be a little exasperated with getting asked about creationism and religion. In last week's South Carolina debate, Huckabee complained (as he's done in the past) that religion seems to be a topic off-limits to ask anyone but him. Yesterday, CBS News' Joy Lin reports, Huckabee was pressed by reporters about the teaching of creationism in schools.

"Let me explain how education works," Huckabee responded. "You probably don't realize. Governors handle education. But governors don't even get into the curriculum of the schools. I was a governor ten and a half years. Ask the people of Arkansas how many times I wrote curriculum for the eighth grade textbooks. So why would I do it as president if I didn't do it as governor?" Huckabee continued, "You guys are fascinated with that, but I have not met a single individual citizen in all of America yet in all the states I've traveled that said I'm really worried you're going to tinker with the science text books for the eighth graders."

Around The Track

John McCain has leapt into the lead nationally, according to the latest CBS News poll. Most surprisingly, McCain leads among self-described conservatives who say they are likely to vote in the primaries, capturing 31 percent of that vote. Nearly 60 percent of Republicans now say they are satisfied with their choices of candidates, a high mark this cycle but nearly three-quarters say they could still change their minds. Clinton leads the Democratic field, including a large lead among women voters.

Some of Rudy Giuliani's top staffers are forgoing their paychecks in the run-up to Florida's Jan. 29th primary, now the candidate himself is seeking a little divine help for the make-or-break contest. "I'm not coming here to ask for your vote," he told an evangelical congregation in the state yesterday. "That's up to you and it's not the right place. But I am coming here to ask you for something very special and more important: I'm asking for your prayers." Giuliani seemed to acknowledge the long odds of his strategy to skip the early contests and make a stand in Florida. "I've faced odds that were at times seemingly impossible, situations where people had given up hope, but we didn't listen to the doubters, we didn't listen to the naysayers," he said. "Fear not, be strong, and of good courage." CBS News' Ryan Corsaro has a rundown of Rudy's campaign here.

As David Broder reported yesterday, William Milliken, who served as George Romney's Lt. Governor in Michigan, in endorsing McCain over Romney in tomorrow's primary.

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner has given the go-ahead for a statewide recount in both the Republican and Democratic primaries, providing that Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Albert Howard agree to pay for the costs. Meanwhile, the Granite State is already buzzing about whether New Hampshire will be able to retain its first-in-the-nation status – for 2012.