Race Race: The Final Lap

As his campaign dances at the edge of the subject, John McCain shies away but it is the Obama campaign that is confronting the racial issue directly.

After John Lewis' blunderbuss approach backfired last weekend, it is AFL-CIO leaders who are encouraging "blunt face-to-face encounter(s) to deal with those who say they can't support the Democratic presidential nominee because of the color of his skin."

In Ohio, the president of a government workers' union tells a rally: "(I)t comes out like this: 'I can't vote for him because he is a black man. He's not one of us.' Well, sisters and brothers, when you hear that, you know what you ought to say? This is what I say: 'That is bullshit! That is total, absolute bullshit!'"

The AFL-CIO campaign will make 70 million phone calls to union households in key presidential and congressional battlegrounds and mail 25 million pieces to rebut rumors that Obama isn't a Christian, wasn't born in the United States or was sworn into the Senate with his hand on a Quran. (Mailings show Obama being sworn by Dick Cheney, his hand on a Bible.)

Meanwhile, McCain dithers about race, joining in the William Ayers attacks but dodging questions about hitting Obama with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as less fastidious conservatives like Tucker Carlson are urging him to do.

At tomorrow night's debate, the subject is sure to come up and both candidates will have a chance to drag it out into the open once and for all.

Superdelegates Tilt Toward Obama

If Hillary Clinton can't stop the primary dominoes from falling, the superdelegates won't save her.

The latest defection is Congressman John Lewis, an icon of the Civil Rights era, who had endorsed Sen. Clinton, but now says, "Something is happening in America and people are prepared and ready to make that great leap...I’ve been very impressed with the campaign of Senator Obama. He’s getting better and better every single day.”

Lewis' switch, following that of Rep. David Scott, signals the Clintons' loss of one of its most loyal constituencies, the Black Caucus, and foreshadows a possible further erosion in support from Democratic Party insiders, who weeks ago seemed to be solidly behind the former First Lady.

David Wilhelm, who managed Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, has announced he will vote for Obama. Christine Samuels, a former Clinton superdelegate from New Jersey, yesterday did the same.

Perhaps the most ominous sign is what the most powerful woman in American political history, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has remained neutral, said last week:

"I don't think it was ever intended that superdelegates would overturn the verdict, the decision of the American people."

No one ever accused politicians of remaining loyal until the last dog dies.