Regina Thomas vs. John Barrow

  Very interesting take on the upcoming primary challenge to our incumbent Congressman John Barrow by State Sen. Regina Thomas here at Glenn Greenwald’s excellent blog.

Apparently Mr. Fresh Start himself, Barack Obama, is openly supporting John Barrow — basically a Democrat in name only — over Regina Thomas, an African American who clearly shares what are assumed to be Obama’s generally progressive, populist policies.

Huh?!

This is a very interesting development, and as Greenwald indicates, it says a lot about the true character of Mr. No More Politics As Usual and where his true politics lie (double entendre intended). John Barrow votes with George W. Bush nearly all the time. Obama taking Barrow’s side in this fight would seem to belie any claim Obama has to the progressive mantle.

Also interesting is that it’s a fight Obama most certainly did not have to wade into. So why did he? Not sure, but I’d guess money is at the center of it. Both Obama and Barrow seem to share an abiding love for the green stuff and a talent for raking it in. It can’t be a quid pro quo for Barrow coming out in favor of Obama over Hillary Clinton; Barrow was hardly a profile in courage in that regard, endorsing Obama only after he got a trillion percent of the vote in Barrow’s district.

A Sister Souljah moment it ain’t, in any case. Regina Thomas is anything but a firebrand and is hardly someone Obama would want to distance himself from in order to be more palatable to white people. Most everybody I know, black and white, likes Regina a heck of a lot better than they do Barrow anyway.

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