I agree with Mr. Navarette here, and find myself in the strange position of saying that I don’t think he made his case very well. Obama got beaten handily in West Virginia, but won other white states. How many of those states, however, regularly re-elects a former Klansman as Senator, without blushing? And as I pointed out when posting in response to the other article yesterday, NPR had a set of interviews after the WV primary, where people said such things as “They just don’t want a black man telling white men what to do.” NPR assured the listeners they’d not brought up the issue of race in any of the interviews, instead asking voters why they’d voted the way they had. I’m sure *someone* in WV is enlightened to vote for Obama in spite of his skin color, but Hilary herself has as much as said her support was in part because of racism, and has tried to paint this is as a reason she’s more electable. Remember, these are *Democrat* voters. They’re trying to pick which of the candidates will be a better liberal president: whose health care plan will cost more, who will run away faster in Iraq, who will appoint more liberal judges, etc. Endless empty platitudes aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
