In his op-ed in the L.A. Times, Ronald Brownstein asks the question, “whether Obama is "blue enough" to increase his support among blue-collar whites.” It is based on a couple false dichotomies that he has set up. He appears to think there are only two candidates that are running for the Democratic nomination, and that there are only two constituency groups, the “upscale "wine track" candidates and blue-collar "beer track" contenders”.

Well, as the great quote, originally from George Bernard Shaw, that Robert Kennedy was so well know for, "Some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

The mainstream media is setting up a false dichotomy. It is the same false dichotomy that Sen. Obama spoke about at the Democratic National Convention.

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

It is the same false dichotomy that Sen. Edwards spoke about at the National Press Club.

When I talked about poverty in the 2004 campaign, political types said it was futile. They said nobody cares about poverty except for the poor. Not true, and we saw it with Katrina.

You've heard me talk about the Two Americas? One for those families who have everything they need, and then one for everybody else. Katrina showed us the Two Americas. Those images of men and women at the Superdome stranded without food, water or hope — simply because they didn't have a car or the cash to escape. Those images are something we'll never forget.

They've become the face of poverty in America — a symbol of the poor and forgotten families that live in big cities like New Orleans and in small towns and rural America too.

But if Katrina showed us the Two Americas, it also showed us something else. It showed us the American people want to live in one America. In the months after the hurricane, millions opened their hearts, their homes and their wallets to this cause.

So for me, the real question isn’t whether or not Obama is blue enough, the real question is who can provide real healing to our country. Who can bridge widening gap between the rich and the poor? Who can bring us back to the caring for our neighbors that made our country strong?

I want to see a spirited and friendly competition between Sen. Edwards and Sen. Obama as to who will do that best, not in 2009, but starting right now. People who have read what I’ve written know that right now, I think Sen. Edwards is the better candidate. Yet they also know that many of my friends are Obama supporters, and that I live in Connecticut and think highly of Sen. Dodd.

No matter who wins the nomination, if we all struggle together to fight the false dichotomies that the mainstream media loves so dearly, we all win. Why not have the Audacity to Hope for One America?

(Cross posted at DailyKos)