Both, incidentally, from Newsweek. I may not agree with their politics, but they’ve got some thought-provoking (or at least discussion-provoking) articles.

Starhawk, a sometime columnist for them, has a piece on the esoteric meanings of Obama’s & Hillary’s campaigns. Her take on Obama, casting a (good) spell with his words are such a needed relief from the general rhetoric surrounding most elections. When muckraking is the norm, having a candidate who stands up and says “Peace”, “Hope”, and “Future” really does wonders for everyone listening. And, by extension, every one.

Meanwhile, on another page, a guest columnist has a fantastically sexist monologue of why Obama might be the first woman president. Just like Starhawk, major themes are that he is sensitive, nice, and willing to engage in conversation (shock!). This is, of course, in contrast to Clinton, who running “a more traditional (and male?)” campaign. What he fails to realize (or at least mention) the fact that a woman who runs as a woman has nary a chance, and what this means for the (lack of) progress shown by the campaigns of Clinton & Obama. What’s really funny is that it’s all a mask for his support of McCain (?!) who is mentioned in the last two sentences as the only normal (read: white male) candidate, but isn’t it cute that they’re trying?