News: Toni Morrison at UEA

by Katie McFarlane

Last Thursday, October 30th, Nobel prize winner Toni Morrison returned to Norwich to give a reading from her latest novel, A Mercy. A guest of UEA’s Literary Festival for the third time, Morrison drew in a packed lecture theatre as she discussed the enduring legacy of slavery, a theme which runs throughout her work, growing especially prominent in what is now her ninth novel.

In his introduction to Morrison on Thursday evening, Professor Chris Bigsby spoke of “the curse of slavery and its aftermath that ricochets through the centuries.” Morrison’s work delves beneath a surface portrayal of slavery, recognising that the enduring effects of this institution still continue to resonate today.

Truth, Morrison identified, is the most important element within life. Thus, if memories of the past become disturbed or erased then it is impossible to move forward until this has been rectified. Slavery and racism she likened to “a married couple.” The flux and uncertainty that rocked the U.S. during the years of slavery is mirrored now in the endurance of racism in the twenty-first century. It is for this reason Morrison sets her novels in the past, acknowledging that it provides an infinitely rich source material, whilst also comprehending that it is only through addressing the fundamental issues of race, those issues that remain engrained within U.S. culture today, that one can look to progressing towards the future.

Morrison was, of course, speaking on the eve of one of the most publicized and controversial presidential elections in history, and there was a palpable sense that the road to change was opening. As Morrison put it, “the pieces are available, they are just not yet fused.” She nationally publicised her vision for the future earlier in the year in a letter of endorsement to President Elect Barack Obama.

As Morrison revealed on Thursday night, “I am holding your hand all the way.” No one is alone in this battle any longer. Morrison writes both to, and for, the entirety of America, as well as the global community. In the wake of Obama's victory, Morrison's hope that the progress of African-Americans can no longer be held back forever seem vindicated, now that the legacies of the past are being re-acknowledged and addressed.

The UEA Literary Festival, now in its seventeenth year, is run each autumn semester by the Arthur Miller Centre for American Studies. Guests this year have also included Cherie Blair, Geraldine Brooks and David Gutterson, whilst in the upcoming weeks Richard Holmes, Sebastian Barry and Juan Chang will be presenting their works. For more information and ticket enquiries please contact the UEA box office. Furthermore, recordings of selected previous guests can now be found here.

Election Result: Yes He Can

And the transcript of Obama's Chicago victory speech in full:

Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.

Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Election Night Special: Results Map

So you can keep up to date right here:

Election Night Special: Distractions

Tired of waiting? Getting twitchy? A smattering of links to keep you occupied. First of all, the polls. Below, a map detailing when the polls close where:
Next, where are you going to get your results? Huffington Post has a whole host of solutions, though CNN might be the best looking pick. Stay tuned though: Containing Multitudes is going to host an automatically updated google map that will keep you on point with events as they happen. And when are they going to happen? If things fall right, it could be pretty soon. Over at FiveThirtyEight you can find out what we might know by 7pm. Still jittery? You can remind yourself about the journey so far at the New York Times or review a musical timeline of the campaign at Drowned in Sound (or examine musicians' campaign contributions at Passion of the Weiss. You could also give some thought to your election day playlist - "A Change is Gonna Come" might be a popular pick. Yet more? Find out what goodies American voters have been promised at the New York Daily News. And one final story: "Barack Obama for President", by Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic.

UPDATE: If you want some more laptop distractions whilst watching the rolling results, the BBC is liveblogging the election here. But most compelling is Twitter's election site - updating each and every second as soon as someone mentions the election. And boy, are people mentioning the election. History in real time.

Election Day Special: Letter from America: Kirsty Callaghan

The world's media might have decamped to the US for today's election, but at Containing Multitudes, we have our own roving reporters. AMS student Kirsty Callaghan is in Florida for the election, and she sent us back this first-hand account of the Obama campaign in Kissimee:

Yard signs dot neighbourhoods, campaign ads fill commercial breaks, news schedules are filled with stories of candidates’ state-hopping and polling data. The election is well and truly upon us.

Tuesday will see voters electing candidates to a number of positions, with a ballot paper that can take up to ten minutes to complete. The electorate will also decide on Amendment 2 to the state’s constitution, similar to California’s Proposition 8, which would define marriage only as between one man and one woman. If the amendment achieves the support of sixty percent of voters, it will become part of the Constitution of Florida.

Despite the plethora of positions to be filled - members of Congress, local Sheriffs and Supervisors of Elections - it is unsurprising that the Presidential race is the most discussed and debated. Here in Florida, one of the 'battleground states', the outcome is of particular interest. Florida is one of a handful of states for which the result is not already a largely foregone conclusion (although polling in even some of the traditionally strongly red states, like Indiana, is indicating the possibility of major gains for the Democrats). Candidates are keen to keep campaigning here until the last moment: both Obama and McCain and each of their running mates having visited the state in the past week. As home to a high proportion of Latinos, who have tended to vote Democrat (with the exception of Cuban-Americans, who tend to vote Republican), Floridian campaigning materials and ads in Spanish are widespread, such as Obama’s ‘¡Basta Ya! Unidos Por El Cambio’ (‘Enough Already! United for Change’). The state’s large retiree population has also been targeted, through initiatives like ‘The Great Schlep’, a movement organised in part by the Jewish Council for Education and Research, in which young Jewish Americans have visited their grandparents in Florida to encourage them to vote for Obama. The state has gone Republican in all but one of the last four Presidential elections, with 2000 being one of the most memorable and fiercely contested battles in the state’s history, eventually coming down to a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. Polling data currently indicates a lead for Obama of a few percentage points, although McCain-Palin yard signs in more rural areas and a notable presence on car bumpers show that they are not without support here. Only Tuesday night will show us which way the state has swung.

I took the opportunity to visit the Democrats of Osceola County Obama Office in Kissimmee three days before the election to witness some of the campaigning first-hand. Nilsa, a mother of ten (four her own, three adopted and three more raised by her!), originally from Puerto Rico but resident in the US for 50 years, has been volunteering at the office since the beginning of August. I asked her, a first-time campaigner, how and why she got involved this time. She first explained that her children have now grown-up and she has recovered sufficiently from recent heart surgery. When she was invited to volunteer, she initially spent just a few hours working in the office, gradually getting more and more involved, to the point where she now feels out of place at home. As we spoke, the campaign office bustled around us, with phones ringing, yard signs being carted through the building and a whiteboard saying that home-cooked food for those working on the main volunteer floor upstairs would be greatly appreciated. The diversity of Democratic support was demonstrated by the variety of materials around the office and the parking lot outside, with posters and bumper stickers bearing slogans like ‘Women for Obama’ and ‘Arab-American Democrat.’ One of the volunteers sported a ‘Teamsters for Obama-Biden’ t-shirt.

Nilsa, in discussion with another volunteer, said that on election day they would be providing water to all the voters in line at the Polling Places – Republicans, Democrats, whoever – “we don’t discriminate”. Long lines have been a great issue even in the days up to the election, with many voters taking the opportunity to vote early but still having to wait up to ten hours in line. Nilsa spoke of her desire for a new kind of President: “we need an intellectual, a smart man. I’m going to send him a lot of Puerto Rican food – rice and beans!” Asked about how confident she feels, she said “I’m not singing yet. I’m behind the curtains, gargling warm water with salt… We don’t look at the TVs or the polls – we can’t.” And if Tuesday goes well? “We’ll be cleaning up, celebrating and continuing our progress.”

“Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could stand. Martin Luther King stood so Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama ran so our children could fly” – from a leaflet in the campaign office.

It’s 00:15 Eastern Time, November 4th 2008 – the first results in the US Presidential Election 2008 have just come in from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire - a small village of just 21 registered voters, which has not voted Democratic since Humphrey in 1968. McCain: 6, Obama: 15. So the election begins…

Election Day: Watching History

Everyone knows that today is the last step of a long journey, and the first step of another one. Containing Multitudes has been along for the ride, and you can review our extensive election coverage here. Attempting to summarise today's media storm would be quixotic. So instead, here's Larry David from the Huffington Post:

Five times a day I'll still say to someone, "I don't know what I'm going to do if McCain wins." Of course, the reality is I'm probably not going to do anything. What can I do? I'm not going to kill myself. If I didn't kill myself when I became impotent for two months in 1979, I'm certainly not going to do it if McCain and Palin are elected, even if it's by nefarious means. If Obama loses, it would be easier to live with it if it's due to racism rather than if it's stolen. If it's racism, I can say, "Okay, we lost, but at least it's a democracy. Sure, it's a democracy inhabited by a majority of disgusting, reprehensible turds, but at least it's a democracy." If he loses because it's stolen, that will be much worse. Call me crazy, but I'd rather live in a democratic racist country than a non-democratic non-racist one.

Stay tuned for an election day special.

Election News: The Obama Infomercial

The title and central theme? "American Stories, American Solutions." In full:

Election News Roundup

As the big day approaches, a round up of today's election stories:

• The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama leads McCain in Ohio (49% to 40%) and Florida (50% to 43%)
• The New York Times, however, outlines the fears of black Floridians "that early voting is nothing more than a new disenfranchisement scam, that early votes are likely to be lost and never counted."
• Michael Gerson explores what the stump speeches really mean for the Washington Post: "When you strip away the cheap lines and petty attacks from presidential campaign stump speeches, you usually find a deeper layer of . . . cheap lines and petty attacks."
• Slate visits with Obama's grandmother in Kenya...
• ...whilst the AP notes that Obama "will be a one-man television blitz on Wednesday, saturating prime-time with a 30-minute ad and popping up on the buzzy late-night TV scene. He is also giving an interview to a prominent network news anchor, and appearing with fellow Democratic star Bill Clinton at a rally that is timed to hit the late-evening news."
• For Salon, William Shapiro wonders what might have been: "All that would have been required to achieve electoral parity and a plausible road map to the White House would have been for the Republican nominee to have transformed himself into ... (Warning: Mind-bending content ahead) ... the John McCain of the 2000 primaries."
• CNN, on the other hand, has an eye to the future, pondering the possibility of an Obama / Palin match-up in 2012.

Stay tuned as the countdown continues.

Election News: Final Presidential Debate

Any conclusions? Perhaps. The New York Times calls John McCain "angry and desparate", Obama's lead grows, and Joe the Plumber becomes an insta-celebrity.

Election News: Second Presidential Debate

Thanks again, C-Span. Still no knock-out blow, though instant polls gave the edge to Obama. Slate reviews the print analysis here.

Election News: Vice-Presidential Debate in Full

Here, in one convenient package, is the complete vice-presidential debate (thank you, C-Span):



Slate gives a comprehensive review of newspaper reaction to the event here. And as a follow-up to a story that we featured earlier this year about presidential campaign songs, NPR offers a new profile of campaign music here.

Election News: Palin, Biden Prepare for Debate

by Jack Ramm The policies, thoughts, moves and shakes of both Obama and Mccain have, in recent weeks, been overshadowed by their somewhat intriguing choices for Vice Presidential candidates. Joe “The Delaware Destroyer” Biden squares up against Sarah “The Lipstick Pit-bull” Palin in St Louis on Thursday evening. After a frankly lacklustre Presidential debate, we’re pinning our hopes on its Vice Presidential counterpart to be entertaining as well as enlightening.

The build up has already started and the gloves are coming off with both candidates preparing their game faces and providing us with some exciting pre-match sparring. Fears that Biden will have a slip of the tongue, or just become a very angry man, are certainly legitimate - although he has countered in his own idiosyncratic manner.

As for Sarah Palin, no one can be sure how she will perform as she is something of a newcomer to national political debating. She’s keen to prove her credentials as a serious candidate, though one would hope she performs in St Louis with more eloquence than in other displays. Looking back into her history reveals a tenacious but disarmingly charming debater and the Republican PR team have been quick to point out that she is "Queen of the Zinger."

Whatever the outcome the pairing certainly sets the stage for a lively debate. Teams Obiden and Mcalin have readied their competitors well and now all eyes are fixed upon the city of St Louis tomorrow evening for the big fight live.

Election News: Presidential Debate - In Full

As promised, the debate in full:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Part 6:


Part 7:


Part 8:


Part 9:


Part 10:


But was it a damp squib?

Election News: Warming Up For the Debate

As anticipation builds for the Presidential Debate, the internet is responding in new and diverting ways. Leading the pack is the C-Span Debate Hub - your one-stop shop for Presidential Debates. If you're awake for the debate at 2am it should provide you with live-streaming (though whether copyright issues preclude it working in the UK is another matter). But beyond that, it's got some clever whistles and bells. When things get going it will put together a timeline of the debate, including transcripts and video. It's aggregating twitter and blog feeds that reference the debate, and it's also going to have a cloud of the debate's keywords as they emerge. Neat stuff. Still want more? Then you might want to check out Slate's debate guide, and the nicely specific Presidential Debate Blog.

Election News: Debate Postponement?

Tomorrow (Friday 26th September) was supposed to be a landmark day in the election campaign: the University of Mississippi was to play host to the first Presidential Debate. As of now, that's no longer a certainty. In a(nother) surprise move, John McCain announced that he will be suspending his campaign so that he can return to Washington to help with the discussions surrounding the current financial crisis (in particular, the proposed $700 billion bail out). He also reached out to Obama to postpone tomorrow's debate. So far, Obama is rejecting that request: “Part of the president’s job is to deal with more than one thing at once. In my mind it’s more important than ever.” He is, however, following McCain's lead and heading to Washington. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these moves are receiving acres of coverage. Comment can be found in Salon, Slate, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

And finally: McCain also cancelled on David Letterman last night - and the results weren't pretty (via Edge of the American West):

Election News: "The end of one historic journey..."

"... and the beginning of another." Barack Obama's words, as he crossed the crucial delegate mark and claimed the Democratic Presidential nomination. Cue the analysis:

• The New York Times runs through the historic events that led to this moment; Time examines "How Obama Did It."
• Both the Washington Post and ABC News explore the ways that Obama's victory has been (jubilantly) received around the world.
• Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is still receiving mountains of press. Meghan O'Rourke examines her defeat for Slate, USA Today reports that she may soon return to the Senate, whilst the New York Times and Newsweek explore what's next for her - including exit strategies and the question of whether she will end up as Obama's running mate.
• The Associated Press reports on John McCain's challenge to Obama to join him in 10 town hall meetings.
• And Guy Saperstein argues that "The Presidential Election is Not Going to Be Close" for the Huffington Post.
• Finally, the moment that Obama claimed victory:

Talking Point: 1968 Redux?

In the first of an occasional series of talking points, we ask: is it 1968 all over again?

Are we seeing the makings of a re-run of history in the US election, as the Democratic primaries spin out, seemingly endlessly, with Barack Obama getting close to the finish line but Hillary Clinton clinging on to the bitter end? The answer could depend on Hillary Clinton. If, as looks increasingly likely, Barack Obama is chosen as the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate, will Hillary Clinton accept or will she decide to carry on anyway and maybe even go it alone?

That would make it a three horse race, just like back in 1968. Then, Nixon was standing for the Republicans, Hubert Humphrey (Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, a liberal, and a strong advocate of civil rights) for the Democrats, and the leftfield (actually more like hard-rightfield) candidate George Wallace stood as an independent.

The election proved tight. Remember that Nixon had stood once before, and narrowly lost, back in 1960 when the Democrat John F. Kennedy became President. In 1968, the election was another tight race in terms of the popular vote with Nixon winning only 43% to Humphrey's 42% (although the electoral college vote was more decisive). The surprise quantity was George Wallace who netted 13% of the popular vote with his pro-segragation, anti-civil rights campaign.

The important thing was that Wallace took a whole heap of votes from Humphrey, and here's where we end up right back in 2008: the votes Wallace took were those of the blue collar Americans that Hillary went out campaigning for the support of in the past few primaries - conservative and, could we say, less than progressive when it comes to matters of racial equality.

A lesson of '68, then, was that blue-collar white voters who might otherwise go Democrat could be wooed away by a candidate who spoke to whites' fears about race. And there have been other occasions when this happened: these are the same folk who became so-called "Reagan Democrats" back in 1980, that time being gobbled up by the Republican Party (traditionally the party of business, not the working class).

So what if Hillary clings on and on? Will she quit the race even if Obama gets the Democratic Party nomination or will she make a run as an independent? And, if so, would she pursue the same course she's been on of late, and chase those "Reagan Democrats"? Is Hillary Clinton to become the new George Wallace, splitting the Democratic Party vote? We'll have to wait and see. Maybe in the end the two Democratic frontrunners will patch things up and cut a deal. Who knows, we might even be looking at a future President and VP combo - but on their form that would look to be a potentially stormy political relationship!

We're not the only ones looking backwards: Newsday and the New York Times are at it as well, since Hillary's recent comments about the assassination of Robert Kennedy have caused something of a stir.

Election News: The End of the Beginning?

Two more crucial primaries in Kentucky and Oregon mean that Obama could have a majority of pledged delegates by tomorrow morning. It might not officially mean an end to the race, but in practical terms it might be all over bar the shouting. The internet is, predictably, excited:

• The New York Times presents an overview of potential outcomes here.
• Of significant interest (given the medium you're currently reading) is Katharine Seelye's account of Hillary Clinton's last minute appeal to bloggers...
• ...whilst the Boston Globe reports on Clinton's continuing support here.
• On the other hand, U.S. News & World Report surveys the way that "Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are acting as if it were over and actively targeting each other" here...
• ...Salon wonders, "Why don't those hillbillies like Obama?" here...
  
• ...and Slate ponders John McCain's potential problems with HDTV here.
• And finally: this might soon be a little out of date, but Matt Taibbi examines the Democrat's "culture war" for Rolling Stone.
  

Election News: Is The End in Sight?

After all the weeks of campaigning, it looks like things are finally reaching a conclusion in the Democratic race to the White House - almost without warning. Despite Barack Obama's apparent loss of momentum in the last few weeks, his victory in North Carolina and very narrow defeat in Indiana means that his lead is essentially insurmountable. For now, Hillary Clinton has pledged to carry on. But exactly how long that will last is very debatable. The writing is on the wall, and in the papers...

• John Dickerson, writing for Slate, questions "Has Obama finally clinched it?", whilst Chadwick Matlin puts Clinton's campaign on "Deathwatch".
• Walter Shapiro in Salon argues that Clinton is "closer to oblivion".
• In the New York Times, Jim Rutenberg analyses the pundits' reaction to events and finds that they've called the race for Obama.
  
• And Dana Millbank, in the Washington Post, thinks it's "All Over But The Shouting".

Election News: Obama vs Wright

More trouble for Obama's campaign in the shape of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The controversies surrounding Wright's vocal beliefs and his historic connections to Obama have already flared up on this campaign, but now they're dominating all coverage of the race. See the New York Times, Salon's analysis of "The Democrats' God Problem", and The Root's profile of Wright. Below, video of Wright's appearance at the National Press Club yesterday and Obama's recent criticism of his former pastor.