“It’s easy to look at what’s happening in Washington DC and despair. That’s why I carry a little plastic Obama doll in my purse. I pull him out every now and then to remind myself that the United States had a progressive, African American president until very recently. Some people find this strange, but  .  .  .” (former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson, “Are We Seeing Signs of a Democratic Wave in the Primaries?” the Guardian, March 7).