Obama for President There is something magical and transcendental in this moment about Sen. Barack Obama both for the country and the Indian American community. Little India has decided to break from its tradition of staying out of the primary selections by endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic Party nomination for president. We take this unusual step as we have come to share his inspiring message and his call for the "fierce urgency of now." We value the Clintons' long association with the Indian American community and with India, so the decision to endorse her opponent has not been easy. But there is something magical and transcendental in this moment about Sen. Obama both for the country and the Indian American community. His life story is in so many ways ours. In his political pursuits, he has defied both traditional paths pursued by minority politicians: identity politics built on narrow affiliations, typical of most ethnic leaders, as well as that of right wing politicians (like our own Bobby Jindal in Louisiana) who run from their history and identity. Obama, by contrast, has transcended boundaries. The Obama phenomenon, even if it does not get him the ultimate prize, offers something unique and it is important that we embrace this moment, for, as the Nobel Prize writer Toni Morrison <http://www.littleindia.com/news/148/ARTICLE/2010/2008-01-30.html> wrote in her endorsement of Obama, "this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril." We reject the proposition that Sen. Hillary Clinton's experience trumps the promise that Obama has to offer. As Sen. Obama has retorted: "One of my opponents says a vote for me would be a gamble. But the real gamble would be to do the same old things with the same old people over and over again and hope that the next time the results will somehow be different." In the wake of the disastrous Bush presidency, Democrats are wistful about the Clinton era. In actual fact, the Clinton presidency was a period of political gridlock and public venom. Besides, Sen. Clinton already had an opportunity to shape public policy during Pres. Bill Clinton's term. We are likely to see a return of the stalemate and the tiresome and virulent conflicts of the 1990s if Clinton were the Democratic nominee. Indeed, the Clintons' subtle race-baiting tactics during the South Carolina primaries offer a preview of their divisive and ultimately futile scorched earth politics. Their reprehensible, win-at-all-costs, racially-laced attacks against Sen. Obama, even at the price of undermining their personal and historic commitments to racial justice, proved a tipping point for us, as they did for many other progressives in this country. A Clinton supporter, Gloria Steinem, dubiously asserted that the gender barrier in politics is higher than the racial one, wondering: "Why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one?" But Sen. Clinton fails even by that measure, because her candidacy only underscores the painful stereotype that women's advancement begins at the altar. As Kerry Howley has tellingly pointed out, the first three women to serve in the Senate succeeded their husbands; six of the first 14 women elected to Congress were widows of incumbents and three others were daughters. Even Steinem would acknowledge that the gender barrier is better broken by a woman who wasn't riding her husband's coattails. Sen. Obama, the son of an immigrant, offers an exciting opportunity to take Americans, men and women, of all races and affiliations, to an exciting new place and time. As Sen. Ted Kennedy <http://www.littleindia.com/news/148/ARTICLE/2011/2008-01-30.html> , D-Mass., so eloquently said in his endorsement: "In Barack Obama, I see not just the audacity, but the possibility of hope for the America that is yet to be." http://www.littleindia.com/news/148/ARTICLE/2009/2008-01-30.html
Isn't this great?
Provisional Ballots to Decide NM Winner
By HEATHER CLARK Associated Press Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Democrats prepared Wednesday to examine more than 17,000 provisional ballots that will determine a winner in New Mexico's tightly contested presidential caucus.
With 183 of 184 of precincts reporting, Hillary Rodham Clinton held a lead of 1,092 votes - 67,921 votes compared to 66,829 for Barack Obama, according to preliminary results posted on the state Democratic Party's Web site.
New Mexico is the only one of 22 states that held Democratic primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday yet to report a winner.
The examination of the provisional ballots, expected to begin Thursday, will be closed to the news media but will be attended by representatives from both the Obama and Clinton campaigns, party officials said.
Provisional ballots are given to voters who show up to the wrong site, whose names are not on registered voter lists provided by the state or who requested an absentee ballot but signed an affidavit saying they did not return it.
Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon said 17,077 provisional ballots were cast, about 12 percent of the total.
When the provisional count is done, it may mean only a gain of a few delegates for the winning candidate. Clinton and Obama are vying for 26 of New Mexico's 38 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Twelve so-called superdelegates are not bound by caucus results.
The caucus, which was run by the state's Democratic Party, was riddled with trouble - with reports coming from across the state of exasperated voters waiting in lines for up to three hours and polling sites running short of ballots.
Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson said he was "deeply disturbed" by problems and long lines at caucus sites, where volunteer workers were overwhelmed by greater-than-expected turnout.
"As this very close election shows, every vote is important and every vote must count. Anything less is unacceptable. In addition, the delay in results was extremely disappointing," said Richardson, himself a candidate for the nomination until dropping out.
Colon said he took responsibility for the problems.
"We absolutely miscalculated and I apologize," he said. "It's a tragedy when folks are not afforded the opportunity to vote."
Mara Lee, state director for the Clinton campaign, said hundreds of people had called a campaign hot line to voice concerns about the caucus. Lee said the state party was unprepared.
"What my concern is mostly that the party system broke down yesterday and I don't want New Mexicans to be punished," Lee said.
Some said the snail's pace of declaring a winner in New Mexico is not unusual.
"As we got more and more results in, it seemed to get tighter and tighter, and that's not an anomaly in elections in New Mexico," said Laura E. Sanchez, executive director of the state Democratic Party. "We saw that in 2004. We saw that in 2000."
Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico who planned to observe the provisional ballot verification process, predicted a drawn-out wait.
"Our state is so competitive at a federal level that we have to count the votes and we have to count them by hand and we have to verify voters and that's time consuming, especially on the provisionals," she said.
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Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca and Barry Massey contributed to this report.
