Democrats’ race takes twists, turns

Re “Bitterness grows between Clinton and Obama,” Jan. 14

Any Democrat running for president walks a slippery slope when attacking Sen. Barack Obama. Black leaders have shown little tolerance for any kind of criticism of the Illinois senator now that he has become a front-runner for the nomination. The Clintons have to mince their words for fear of losing the black community that has supported them in the past. This may serve Obama well during the nomination process, but it doesn’t bode well for Democrats if Obama makes it to the general election. Republicans will have no problem criticizing Obama for his youth and lack of experience, and will subtly play the race card because they don’t feel pressured to be politically correct. That’s refreshing, and it may be the only refreshing thing about them. If Sen. Hillary Clinton can walk this tightrope, she can probably handle anything that may occur in eight years of serving in the White House.

Steve Baker

Los Angeles

In recent days, Clinton has attacked Obama on his Iraq war stance. Obama has opposed the war, but he stood by the troops already on the ground by voting for the funding bills that contained money for both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It would have been irresponsible of him not to support the war effort. It is not his war, but he is willing to finish the job. If elected president, Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing troops, and he would take steps to confront the ongoing humanitarian disaster.

Tim Gallagher

San Francisco

Re “Clinton, Obama search for heroes in ‘super delegates,’ ” Jan. 14

The Times casts the Democratic presidential race as a two-person contest, omitting mention of former Sen. John Edwards even though polls still show him to be the most electable of the trio. There is no front-runner. The contest is not over. In the interest of journalistic integrity, The Times needs to start covering Edwards as well as the multimillion-dollar media darlings.

Cort Casady

Manhattan Beach