Does the Obama win matter?

By Libby The polls are closed and the media are calling South Carolina for Obama. The Clintons are not happy. Each side accused the other of playing the race card, sparking a controversy that frequently involved the former president. "They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender. That's why people tell me Hillary doesn't have a chance of winning here," Bill Clinton said at one stop, strongly suggesting that blacks would not support a white alternative to Obama. Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as "the black candidate." What's that supposed to mean? Was he the white candidate last week? I don't get the media obsession with race and gender. I would have hoped by now we, as a society, would have moved past this fixation on categories. I hate that they're hyping this as a deciding factor. Meanwhile, all this high drama over the primaries may become rather meaningless if the super-delegates end up being the real deciding factor. They hold a hefty margin and a whole lot of power. I have this feeling that both parties are just playing us and in the end, the machine intends to decide who wins.