Obama, Race, and John Howard...and logos!

Here's a fascinating post from The Nation's John Nichols, Is Obama's Race a Factor in Howard's Attack? The article looks at the skirmish this past weekend between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and U.S. Senator (and now Presidential candidate) Barack Obama. Was their racial undertones behind Howard's assertion that Al-Qaeda would be dancing for joy if Obama became President?

Read Nichols' piece and see what you think.

Speaking of Obama, as someone who does communications and public relations, I have to say that I really dig his new logo. Sure, the"O" is a bit cliche, from Oprah to Overstock.com to Cheerios. But I still like it. Below are my thoughts on the other candidates for the Democrats, and their logos appear at the bottom. (Republicans will come later!) Here's my rundown:

Hillary: as boring as sitting through 10 focus groups, which I have no doubt this logo has already done

Edwards: boring with a green swoosh

Richardson: undertones of the TV show "Dallas"

Vilsack: props for a different color scheme, but a little too "V for Vendetta" for a Presidential Candidate. Perhaps if Vilsack was wearing a white mask and blowing up parliament...

Biden: this logo reminds me of the BUSH/CHENEY logo from 2004 (I think it's the colors more than the font). It's not altogether bad, but Biden's website is creepy. Go there. And tell me if the two pictures of Joe Biden smiling don't freak you out a bit. (and to top it off, there's a frozen shot of Biden's wife, who looks like she's pooping.)

Kucinich: too square for such a fun guy

Gravel: I'm not even sure Gravel has a logo or just a watermark

(Not available: Chris Dodd)