Barack Obama won the Wisconsin Democratic primary and the Hawaii Democratic caucus. Obama extends his delegate lead and his impressive run of victories. The delegate lead is still close in this epic struggle between Democratic heavyweights, but Hillary Clinton must now counter the mounting press coverage of her campaign’s troubles.
Hope still remains for the Clinton camp in the upcoming March 4 primaries that include Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont and the April 22 contest in Pennsylvania; however, Obama is cutting into Clinton’s base of support and her once-large leads in Texas and Ohio have evaporated.
Indeed, Iranian Americans will have yet another opportunity to show the potency of the Iranian-American vote in these tight races as world events impact the campaign (upcoming March 14 parliamentary elections in Iran and the Kosovo declaration of independence), thus giving the candidates an opportunity to inform prospective voters on their foreign policy views and demonstrate their ability to be commander-in-chief.
McCain has all but sewn up the nomination, and has no problem appearing as the GOP nominee. McCain took the time to chide his Democratic rivals on their experience and foreign policy approaches after his win. McCain went so far as to scold Obama when he said that the U.S. would go after Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists in Pakistan under his administration, yet forgot his joyful rendition of “Barbara Ann” with bomb, bomb Iran.
The fear-mongering in American politics is passé, and with important international events like Kosovo’s independence, March parliamentary elections in Iran and Russia, and the horror in Kenya, Iranian Americans and Americans in general demand a return to seriousness and detail in policy debates so that the country can decide the candidate who has the most successful approach in meeting these challenges.