Friday, March 28, 2007
Race and gender overstated in presidential race
Clinton and Obama are involved in a race where sex and ethnicity have become a main point
By Scott Muskn
imuuit>in<( alitor
srmsoX2(« psii.edu
As a 20 year-old. I've been alive lor six different
presidential campaigns (including the one that is
currently ongoing), and have been what 1 would call
politically aware lor two of them. It's not hard for
me to decipher, though, that this most recent cam
paign Jillers in many extremes from any of the pre
vious races I have been alive for. or any that have
even been conducted in the United States. This is
due to the candidates that are running, especially as
Democratic candidates
I've always listened to the candidates speak, and
I've always seen the commercials that buffer their
images and attack those of their opponents, and in
this way this year's campaign is no different than
any other. However, the angles that have been taken
deviate from anything I've ever heard or experi
enced during a presidential race.
Try as 1 might, it's impossible to see past the
unprecedented characteristics of this vear's cam
paign. especially on the Democratic side of the
spectrum. There is no traditional candidate in the
running (and by '’traditional" I mean an elderly
white male), and if the eventual w inner of the liber
al ticket beats out McCain, it w ill be either the first
woman or first black president of the United States.
I think it's time to look past that, though. It
shouldn’t matter what gender or ethnicity you are
when it comes to being the president of one of the
most powerful countries in the world. That kind of
classification shouldn't even remotelv factor into
t [ t DEl y\ ] jy
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the way a campaign is being run or evaluated by the
I want to know about the issues. I really do. I’m
worried about the economy, and I'm worried about
the war. I'm worried about terrorist organizations
and healthcare, and if there's any concern over race
and gender, it's equality based.
All I want from the next president is some strong
leadership that w ill help put our country back on the
right track, and race or gender should hav e no bear
ing on that. I understand that it deserves a bit of
notoriety since it would be a first in either instance,
but it's no way to judge whether or not someone
should become Commander-in-chief.
With the Pennsylvania primary election coming
up next month. I really hope that the Democratic
candidates alter their campaigning methods, and
that the media follows suit. It's drastically impor
tant for the issues to be brought into the limelight
and for their incessant bickering to cease. It's diffi
cult to decide w ho the most appropriate candidate is
if they don't attack the issues that are problematic in
todav’s societv.
So far it's been difficult to see w here Obama and
Clinton even differ in various policies, since their
ethnicity and gender have been so overstated. It's
gotten to the point that it's becoming annoy ing, and
I don’t think I'm the only one that's tired of hearing
about it.
The fact that Hillary Clinton is a woman and that
Barack Obama is a black man should be neither an
advantage or disadvantage for either one of them, so
the media should stop treating it as such.
comm
• Alternative rock band Third Eye Blind will be performing on
Friday, April 4 at the Junker Center. Tickets are now on sale at the
RUB desk and are $l5 for students and $2O for the general public.
Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the concert will begin at 8 p.m.
• The Association of Black Collegians will host their 11th annual
fashion show, called “Lights, Camera, Vogue” on Saturday, March
29. The show will begin in McGarvey Commons at 8 p.m. and will
go until 10 p.m. with an after party following until 2:30 a.m. For
more information, e-mail lnnlo7@psu.edu.
• Leadership Unlimited and SAF are sponsoring a day of tubing at
Peek’n Peak on Sunday, March 30. The cost is $5 per person for the
first 20 people that sign up and all others will pay full price. The
group will meet at the RUB desk at 12 p.m. Contact Jen Balsiger,
jlbsolB@psu.edu with questions.
• Environmental strategist and author Andrew Winston will be on
campus as part of the Speaker Series on Monday, April 7. He will
be speaking at 7:30 p.m. in McGarvey Commons and is free to both
students and the general public.
• The Penn State Behrend Concert Band’s upcoming Evening of
Musical Tomfoolery will be held on Tuesday, April 1. The fun
begins at 8 p.m. in the McGarvey Commons of the Reed Union
Building. Admission is free. The concert band will perform a selec
tion of witty, whimsical pieces under the direction of Gary Viebranz,
director of instrumental music at the college. On the program are
works by Leopold Mozart, P.D.Q. Bach, film composers Danny
Elfman and Luis Bonfa, and percussionist Lamar Burkhalter, who
also holds the title of musical director for the NFL’s Houston Texans.
The performance is presented by the college’s School of Humanities
and Social Sciences. For information, phone Viebranz at 814-898-
6289.
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