Potomac Primaries

Barack Obama swept yesterday's "Potomac primaries" - Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia - and began to make inroads with white voters and women, suggesting that the Obama campaign is more than just an effort to make the Illinois senator the forty-fourth President of the United States. It's a movement to remake the country as it is. When Obama talks about wanting to get the country out of the mindset that got us into a war in Iraq, it signifies that he wants to get America out of an "imperial" mindset that requires us to maintain hegemony over the world without taking care of our problems at home. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has been advocating that she is, among other things, "strong on defense" - a long-standing euphemism for being in favor of throwing Uncle Sam's weight around the planet. Who do we have to defend ourselves from? The British? And how exactly is our military-industrial complex essential to combating terrorism, which is primarily a law enforcement issue?

But what about the complaint that Obama lacks the "common touch" - that he appeals more to Starbucks customers than to Hillary's base of Dunkin' Donuts customers? I think Obama's working on it. Maybe that's why he was recently seen carrying "Dunkin' Donuts" doughnuts and coffee, presumably to one of his campaign offices.

Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks . . . I go to both myself  . . .