Surprise! We live in a racist country
Right now the yammering lunkheads on CNN are wondering why Clinton defeated Obama in New Hampshire even though the polls showed a wide lead for Obama going into the primary as a result of his caucus victory in Iowa. There's a lot of nonsense about some contrived crying jag that Clinton did the other day which the media covered in detail, but which no normal person cared about in the slightest. Others say that Bill Clinton pulled through for his wife.
Whatever. The real explanation is simpler, even though it doesn't reflect well on the white voters of New Hampshire. There is a well-established phenomenon that there is a certain percentage of white US voters who will tell pollsters that they're voting for a black candidate, but then behave otherwise in the voting booth. This pattern couldn't work in Iowa, since it's a caucus system and everyone's vote is known to others. It has obviously worked out this way in New Hampshire. White Democrats are less racist than whites in general, especially white Republicans, but they are still racist, so it seems likely that that's what we're seeing here.
On another note, and while the issues had nothing to do with how people voted, it seems to me that Obama has said very next to nothing over the past week, and yet has left a lot of people "inspired." I don't quite understand why. On a substantive level there really is little difference between him and Hillary Clinton; if anyone spots a real difference, do let me know.
Edwards, by contrast, has sounded very different indeed, and has made a distinct appeal to the left. Unfortunately there's little mass movement or constituency left to support that, and the labor movement -- which could have -- was divided on his candidacy.
So we're left with pretty much the same old shit. And very likely a President McCain.