Close Elections of the Un-manipulated Kind

I'm listening to last night's Democratic debate now (ain't the Internet great). Now that they've discussed the race issue inside out, I hope that they move on.

I personally felt that the "controversy" in the news lately stemming from Hillary's remarks about Martin Luther King's role in the Civil Rights Act (prominent, which is why he and others who wanted this passed were present when Lyndon Johnson picked up the pen to sign it, but the truth was he wasn't a politician, folks, and therefore didn't have the power to make law) was blown out of proportion by the media from a wish to divide the black vote (and clear the path for John Edwards to get the nomination.)

Promoting divisiveness among blacks is nothing new (house slave vs. field slave, anyone?), and as someone who has spent more than half my life living under the rule of Presidents I either disagreed with or outright couldn't stand (I won't count Eisenhower, since he was gone when I was 3-1/2, but five years of Nixon, 2-1/2 years of Ford, eight years of Reagan, four years of Bush, and seven years of Bush II) I can certainly live happily with John Edwards in the White House, but I prefer my elections un-manipulated.