This morning, the New York Times ran a piece about the problems that Barack Obama might have in the general election with Jewish voters in Florida, largely because of his skin color and rumors that he is a Muslim. On Monday, the Times wrote a piece about women and the problems that gender plays in presidential politics. Race was the central obsession after the West Virginia primary, and age has been a subject of significant analysis as well throughout the Democratic contest. All of these topics are legitimate subjects of inquiry, and create opportunity to test the political candidates and scrutinize important historical injustices and prejudices within American society.

The press, however, seems bent on keeping identity as the main focus of the election and it appears to be its primary criticism (and a shallow one at that) of Barack Obama (i.e. he can't win older white voters in key states). The media, popular, partisan, print, and television, must now move on to discuss the candidates in the context of the crucial national and international challenges that the nation faces. For at least the past two months, the immediate and long-term problems the Congress is grappling with and the president is ignoring have been largely banished from the headlines of major news outlets. 

Let's just pick three:

1) The house and mortgage crisis
2) Climate Change/Energy Security
3) Iraq

On each of these pressing matters of national and international importance, there are clear differences between the proposed plans of Barack Obama and John McCain and we should be pressing to hear more about them.  Now.

Race and gender are important topics and
themes which citizens must continue to probe should we
wish to improve justice and understanding within our society. But there
are also important economic, environmental, and foreign policy
challenges that cut across the divisions that the press has dwelled
upon lately. Democrats will win in 2008 if they keep the discussion on
the issues above and other substantive, material issues, rather than
the character and identity tropes that the media prefers to talk about
because Obama
and the Democrats offer approaches that are more effective and more
popular. Reality is a troublesome thing for the Republicans right now
and progressives should unite and capitalize on that.

Originally posted at http://politicaldissonance.blogspot.com/.