That's a very fair response, dude, and I appreciate that. However, I don't think we are far enough removed from the 50's and 60's and before to expect that there aren't any people who will vote AGAINST him because he's black.
I suspect that there are plenty of these people. After all, if 90% of blacks vote for a black just because he's black, don't you imagine there is some percentage of whites who vote against a black just because he's not white? In other words, race is VERY much an issue in this campaign. If old white women preferred Hillary for whatever reason, then there are people who prefer or don't prefer Obama, for whatever reason.
If that's the reality, why would a "better man" rise above it? It's a game, politics. It is played on many, many battlefields. If Obama can find a way to use it to his advantage (I doubt he will be able to do so), then all the more power to him. It's not worth any less or any more than any other angle these candidates will pursue.
And finally, I wouldn't call him a "race huckster." That was Jessie Jackson, or Al Sharpton. But even so, your proclamation that race hucksters have no place in our politics, I find misguided. Our politics are about whatever we as an electorate deem significant at the time. If we happen to decide, as an electorate, that race is a big issue and we need to elect a black...then race has a very real role in our political process, and let the best huckster win.
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