As someone whose scholarly work is on Native American Studies, I can say with no real surprise that Obama is the most likely candidate for most Native tribes. As many other scholars have shown, Indians have a long history in the U.S. of being the great peacemakers, the first reconcilers.

AT PRESENT, THE MOST ubiquitous conversation in America is about the next Democratic presidential nominee.  Almost every story on TV, in the news, and in the blogosphere advances a compelling reason to support either Senator Clinton or Obama.  But, amidst all of the rationalization and speculation, even the most seasoned pundits dance around what everyone knows is the real determining factor for who the next president should be--whose candidacy would yield the best inaugural poem?

Yesterday's democratic primaries mean that the campaigns, speeches, and the scrutiny will last another six weeks, maybe more.  

Without question, Senator Clinton's campaign will be looking closely at pretty much everything Senator Obama says, no doubt, hoping to catch him in some sort of transgression, like plagiarism.

Last week, my letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle generated some correspondences and questions that I thought I would address here and at the Weekly Rader. ("Creative Borrowing" http://www.sfgate.com/...

One of the most unexamined (and most bizarre) results from Super Tuesday was the shockingly disparite results in the Democratic primaries in Oklahoma and Kansas.  Unlike the border states of New York and Connecticut who have a valid reason for going in different directions, there is no real explanation for this gap---the widest of any states that border each other.

As a Native Oklahoman, I am convinced Oklahoma's difficult racial history affects the state's ability to see Obama as a legitimate contender, and it raises larger questions about the long legacy of racism linked to states' identities.

Few pundits have looked closely at the Plains States--Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska--as indicators of where Americans are leaning.  But the  nearly inexplicable differences in the results from two states who have nearly everything in common demands further scrutiny.

I actually write about this in my post yesterday on The Weekly Rader: http://weeklyrader.blogspot.com/...
And I'd love to hear feedback either here or there.