I'm not saying that Obama will win or lose because of the color of his skin. He probably won't. But what Obama supporters have successfully done is skew the national discussion away from the issues and more toward a referendum on race.
The Obama campaign has made it harder to talk about the economy, national security, health care, etc., without dragging in the murky and volatile factor that corrupts every debate.
When John McCain supporters say, "Obama lacks experience," Obama's handlers say that's code for "Do you really want an unprepared black man running the government?" When we criticize his intent to sit down with dictators "without preconditions," they say it means "this black man doesn't really have our country's best interests at heart if he's willing to talk to our enemies." When Sarah Palin criticizes Obama for his ties to William Ayers by saying, "I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist," she's slammed as a racist.
If Colin Powell were on the Democratic ticket, McCain might lose half his base. It's the candidate, not his color, that turns a lot of us off. Yes, there are bigots - of every color and ethnicity. But they're not the majority by a long shot.
I doubt Obama condones these tactics. As he's said on many occasions, he wanted to transcend race in this campaign. And as a man raised in large part by his white grandparents, I believe him.
But this race thing is bigger than whatever Obama intended. It's taken on a life of its own.
There have been many times during a conversation with an Obama supporter when I've seen a noticeable change in demeanor after they've realized they can't change my vote. Incapable of believing that someone would vote for any Republican post-Bush, even one hated by many in his own party, they whip out that trusty race card.
