Seems to prove the Daily Howler's point to me that while all the blogs in my RSS reader are excitedly talking about race, nobody but the Howler is pointing out that Beinart FOR ONCE has started criticizing "the media sharks." Something all the blogs in my RSS reader could bother to do more often, too, btw.

"Many of the voters who right now won't vote for Obama because he's black would probably vote for Colin Powell even though he's black. That's because they don't see Powell as a racial redistributionist, a guy who would favor his community at their expense."

Peter, you dumbass, anyone who sees Obama as a "racial redistributionist" either does so because they are racist themselves (and thus not going to vote for Obama *or* Powell), or because they believe Republican spin about Obama, which, coincidentally, is the same for every single potential Democratic leader: "*THEY* are going to favor *THEIR* kind over *YOU*."

That's Republican Attacks 101; it's simply, if inelegantly, how you counter a coalition that consists of identity-based groups, or can be painted that way, which is to say, any coalition. (And seriously, what rational person thinks Obama ran as the second coming of Al Sharpton?)

If Colin Powell had miraculously won the Democratic primary, in any year, with any kind of black support, he, too, would be identified as a member of the second category by these geniuses.

The beauty of a fictional Colin Powell candidacy is that it enables people in the second category to say, "Sure, I'd vote for a black guy -- just not the one who's running."

Which isn't exactly a rock-solid rebuttal of the "I'm not a racist!" argument.

I agree that's not the job he's running for, but it apparently *is* the job he *thinks* he's running for. You're not going to get him off that easy. Not with all those transcendent-- historical moment this, historical moment that-- and otherwise mostly contentless speeches floating around out there.

Face it: that's how he got the college kid (and academic wanker) vote. He full well knows that. Adult America knows that. (Especially the ones more or less forced into paying the academics to wank).

Hillary Clinton was right about one thing--you can't win the general election on that.

I would also add that anyone who has followed the Dem Primary from the start knows that a fair amount of the Dem policy content that was popular with the voting public was initially forced into the arena by Edwards, fresh off "the poverty tour."

I didn't agree with all of those ideas myself, but I wouldn't lose sight of that if I were Bama.

Once again, any opposition to the Obama juggernaut is ipso facto racist.

There's nothing at all illegitimate about concerns that an Obama presidency would likely shape policy and distribute resources, in big big amounts, to interests that are inimical to those of most Americans and thus inimical to America itself. There's plenty of evidence of such tendencies on his part (see the groups and individuals he's long associated himself with), just as there's plenty of evidence that McCain would do likewise but in very different, perhaps equally harmful directions.

These assessments are rightly called politics, not "racism."

"But because, unlike Powell, Obama is a liberal Democrat who enjoys overwhelming black support, that's what many racially hostile white voters assume."

Beinart is a retard.
If Powell had run in 2000, even as a GOPer, he also would have enjoyed high levels of black support. Powell supports affirmative action, had a distinguished military career and has moderate social views (he's not a rightwingnut). A question would have been - why be a repub?
Unfortunately, he destroyed his credibility (with everyone) when he allowed himself to be used by Bu$hco to sell the Iraq fiasco.

Few whites have a problem with Obama's race. The primnary has demonstrated that handily as well as the polls of white people.

On the other hand, blacks will, indeed, vote race because he's black and the polls have demonstrated that as well.

So, which group is really the racist group?

Two questions, El Viajero:
1) Didn't White Democrats Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry receive the overwhelming majority of the African-American vote?

2) Don't you think if a White Democrat had won, they would probably be getting close to the same support that Obama is getting?

If your answer to both these questions is yes, than how are African-Americans racist for supporting Obama?