Castro, primaries - food, fuel for blogosphere (San Francisco Chronicle)

It came as a shock that, after 50 years in power, Castro has conceded he is no longer physically up to the job of running Cuba and is transferring the reins of power (well almost) to his brother, Raul. What this all means was taken up at links.sfgate.com/ZCNE by Steven C. Clemons. He says that what is lost amid all the reporting of the moment is that the real question may be, "Which of the presidential candidates is prepared to finally break U.S.-Cuba relations out of the anachronistic Cold War cocoon they have been frozen in and initiate a new course that benefits American interests?"

"Of all the low cost opportunities to demonstrate a new and different U.S. style of engagement with the world, Cuba is at the top of the list."

"One interesting U.S. presidential race tidbit involves Fidel Castro - who is now quite dismissive of and sparring with John McCain over McCain's accusations that Cuban agents engaged in torture in Vietnam. However, before this spat, Castro said that the 'unbeatable' U.S. presidential ticket would have both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on it."