MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
The war of words between the Clinton and Obama campaigns has heated up in recent weeks, with race becoming an issue. Commentator Mary Curtis will be listening carefully to tonight's Democratic debate. While she's pleased there's so much excitement, she warns that too much passion could have unexpected consequences for the Democratic Party.
MARY CURTIS: Will they be naughty or nice? The occasion - tonight's debate of Democratic presidential candidates in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - certainly calls for nice. It falls on today's holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. who brought people together and who deserved some peace. Since the civil rights era, Democrats could be counted on to unite behind his legacy, right? Then why will voters and viewers be holding their breath? Because a little over a week ago, words were exchanged between frontrunners Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that proved race in America and how we view it can still ignite passion.
Somehow, I think Martin Luther King wouldn't be surprised. Forty years after his death, he's still in the middle of it. In America, everyone is afraid to talk about race. Clinton and Obama called a truce that held through a debate in Nevada that was eerily gentile. One couldn't praise the other's civil rights record enough. It was like one of those family agreements. Don't discuss religion or politics at Thanksgiving, so no one gets hit with a turkey leg. Of course, the candidates vowed to take race out of the race. They want do die down the emotion and unite once again.
With an eye toward November, Democrats want to make sure their coalition holds, that women and minorities realize they have more in common, like moving on together after eight years of George W. Bush.
Even if they manage to do that - and we'll be listening tonight to see if the truce holds - their supporters have taken no such pledge. The reenergized young people who came out for Obama, the women who gave Clinton a lift, they have stars in their eyes. You can hear it at the rallies and read it on the blogs - Clinton or Obama. Supporters argue over which one is the savior of the party and the nation. They are standing firm, but only behind their man or woman.
People in love do crazy things. Will voters be able to calmly move from one suitor to the next? And will the talk of race and gender cloud their vision? In life, ambivalent affection is boring. In politics, it could be a plus. GOP voters will have no problem lining up behind the last guy standing. But for Democrats, will the emotion at the moment trump King's dream? When you fall truly, madly, deeply in love, it's so easy to get your heart and party broken.
BLOCK: Mary Curtis is a columnist with The Charlotte Observer.