By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com
Thursday, May 8, 2008 |
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Well, Barack Obama should be one happy guy. His big victory in North Carolina has pretty much locked up the Democratic presidential nomination. Now, it is virtually impossible for Hillary Clinton to defeat him in the popular vote or in the elected delegate category.
Thus, Obama has the nomination won, unless another Reverend Wright crawls into the picture. Spinners who talk about re-votes in Florida and Michigan are dreaming; that will not happen. The Obama campaign would be foolish to participate. They played by the Democratic party's rules and won. They're not going to sanction do-overs.
Also, as Al Sharpton told me, any kind of superdelegate shenanigans will lead to massive demonstrations at the Democratic Convention in Denver which, of course, would be disastrous for the party.
So, Obama seems to be in.
Now comes the hard part—convincing Americans that he is the best choice for president without all hell breaking loose on the race front.
Thanks partly to Reverend Wright's now immortal "the USA of KKK" remark, the race factor has emerged big time in this election. If you don't believe me, just look at the vote in North Carolina and Indiana.
About 60 percent of whites voted for Hillary Clinton, as opposed to an astounding 90% of African-Americans pulling the lever for Obama. And working-class whites went even bigger for Clinton. No question there is a race divide.
Accepting that, Senator Obama has two basic problems in the race arena. First, militant blacks reinforce negativity on race, and these pinheads just keep popping up. In addition to Wright, a black Philadelphia preacher, Derick Wilson, wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News that Barack Obama is a "house negro" for not supporting Wright.
Of course, that is insane, and a responsible newspaper would not have printed the lunacy. But in this hyper-partisan country, race-baiters will find a forum, and every time stuff like that gets exposure, racial animus comes back.
Obama's second dilemma is convincing skeptical white voters that he and his wife are sympathetic to their concerns. Let's be honest—few white Americans would tolerate a Reverend Wright for five minutes, much less 20 years. And Obama's comments in San Francisco about blue collars seeking refuge in guns and church hurt him badly.
So, the Senator must clarify his philosophy without belaboring the issue. Even with his verbal eloquence, that will not be easy.
I do not expect Obama or Senator McCain to dwell on race, but, surely, some of their surrogates and the media will exploit the issue to the fullest. Any kind of perceived racial comment will be splashed all over the place.
That, of course, will be bad for the country and bad for the candidates. But it's coming. No question. |
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