The One-Dimensional Candidate

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

It's easy for political candidates to get turned into one-dimensional characters by the journalists who cover them -- there is often an obvious angle for reporters and commentators to exploit. Hillary Clinton, as you have no doubt noticed, is a woman; Mitt Romney is a Mormon; and Barack Obama is black. All of these characteristics are, of course, notable, but the repetition of these storylines, the depth to which they are explored, can become just a little excessive.

Last week, that excess was pretty evident in the question (repeated ad nauseum by news outlets everywhere) of whether America was ready for a Mormon president.

At Journal-isms, Richard Prince is assessing the ocean of ink spilled recently in the nation's newspapers exploring the question of whether Obama is "black enough."

Writes Prince: "Journalists took with them the recently minted Barack Obama story line — 'is he black enough?' 'Will black voters support him?' — as they covered the Democratic presidential candidate's venture into South Carolina over the weekend."

Indeed, it's a story subject that's been minted for quite some time. Three weeks ago, it was smack in the middle of the New York Times' front page. Time magazine did it the day before that.

South Carolina, no doubt, will not be its final stop.

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