Obama's Race Makes This Presidential Race Still a Race

CLEVELAND - For all of his great attributes, Sen. Barack Obama's historic and wildly popular presidential campaign should easily culminate in a victory for the Democrats, but he has one glaring weakness.

He's Black.

I know, he's actually bi-racial but in reality, America will always see him as black. Truth is, in spite of Obama's lack of political experience (in comparison to rival Sen. John McCain), he has a decidedly better case for becoming the 44th U.S. Commander-in-Chief and first African American. Why is the race still so close is almost completely about White America's still deep-seeded racism.

Obama is a quarter-century younger than McCain and endlessly more vibrant. McCain's recent medical history is less than desirable and he appears hopelessly out of touch with what this country truly needs going forward. The Bush Administration has allowed the genocidal Iraq War to persist with no real explanation why. The economy has been a joke for years (in sharp contrast to the Clinton White House) and McCain has supported these counter-productive policies. A McCain victory in the Fall would be a slap in the faces of Liberals who desperately need positive change, not the same "politics as usual" as Obama so succinctly put it at his DNC acceptance speech last week in Denver.

Another shortcoming of McCain's campaign became public knowledge in the past week. With his choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, he gave the country another surreptitious red-flag as further proof of the high risk his candidacy brings. Palin, an obviously inexperienced beauty, brings her own dirty laundry as it was just revealed that her unmarried, 17-year old daughter is pregnant. This means that should the elderly McCain take ill or worse, the fate of the U.S. would fall into the hands of a new grandmother and mother (Palin herself has a five-month old) whom by her own admission is little more than a "hockey mom."

Obama chose Joe Biden as his V.P., who makes up for his own inexperience and foreign policy shortcomings. Obama (and his young children) also brings youth and vigor into the White House much like JFK did in 1961 and Bill Clinton did in 1993.

The choice is clear. Obama should win this race going away.

Except his race won't just "go away."