Video

more at http://www.theuptake.org University of Minnesota Professor John Logie talks about how the Clinton campaign has interjected race into the election and how Hillary Clinton's "concession" speech shows just how close this race really is. This is a second part of John Logie's analysis. Transcription: As has often been the case in this campaign, Barack Obama delivered a speech that was exemplary in terms of political rhetoric. The takeaway phrase in this was "the choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It's not about rich vs. poor, young vs. old and it is not about black vs. white. It is about the past vs. the future". Barack Obama clearly thinks that's a winning message. This was the central point in a speech that was highly visible. And it's an argument that might well change the dynamics of the upcoming contest on what we're now stupidly calling "Super Duper Tuesday". It will be interesting to see how the mainstream media covers Obama victory and in particular Obama's powerful speech. Or whether the next news cycle is dominated by someone who has a habit of dominating news cycles and that's Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton managed to pull the focus away from his wife's campaign yet again with his comparison of Barack Obama to Jesse Jackson. The clear import of Clinton's comparison is to suggest that Black candidates do well in South Carolina and thus, Barack Obama then impending victory could be discounted because "hey, South Carolina voters tend to like Black candidates." With that I think we can close any further debate as to whether the Clinton campaign is actively injecting race as an issue into the 2008 Democratic primary season. They are doing it. Bill Clinton is doing it. Whether he is the designated attack dog for the Clinton campaign or just a loose cannon, this is unfortunate. It's especially unfortunate given the sharp contrast between Clinton's role in this campaign and the role of his predecessors have tended to take in previous campaigns. Admittedly he's in a difficult situation, being both a former President and Presidents have tended to maintain a kind of respectful silence as campaigns have unfolded. He's also a political spouse and there are certain obligations. But, I think you could draw a sharp contrast between the role he's taken and the role either Elizabeth Edwards or Michelle Obama has taken. Both of whom have tended to be much more supportive of the merits of their spouses rather than attacking opponents. There was a subtle but clear indication about just how close this race is by the way the Clinton camp conceded -- and I'm using the word conceded loosely. They finished in a distant second place and the Clinton camp elected not to have Hillary Clinton speak in the form of a traditional concession speech, but delivered a short written message to the press. That message said among other things "on to Florida." Because Florida and Michigan jumped the gun and held primaries before February 5th, their delegates don't count. And there was an agreement among most Democrats not to campaign there. Now as we saw in Michigan, Hillary Clinton's name ended up on the ballot despite that agreement. And that dynamic is playing out again in Florida. So essentially Hillary Clinton is running uncontested in those states. And she wants votes to count. If the core message coming out of her "concession" to Barack Obama in the South Carolina primary is "now we're moving on to Florida", that's an indication of just how close this race has gotten. So that's how things look from a kitchen table in south Minneapolis. For The Uptake, this is John Logie.