Thomas wrote:sozobe wrote:I guess what I'm asking is more about him talking about his OWN blackness.
If I remember correctly, Obama did weave in some remarks about his race at his 2004 keynote speech. It was in the spirit of "I'm living the American dream here -- a poor black kid from a modest Chicago neighborhood, and now I'm running for Senator! I want others to have that chance too." (This is from memory, and my memory has been known to suck.) I think Obama is very good at bringing up such topics in a direct but non-threatening way. I'm not worried about that part.
thomas
Perhaps I don't understand your specific worry here.
It seems to me the fellow has made remarkably few mis-steps which I attribute to his own smarts, effective advisors, and personal integrity.
What I think he will have to handle is the fairly predictable strategies to undercut his positives.
We've seen some of it here and elsewhere earlier. If he says that his model is Lincoln or that he wishes to carry forward Lincoln's traditions, the attack mode will take the form of "And who says that Obama is Lincolnian...well, it is Obama himself." The suggestions are that he is actually hollow and self-aggrandizing. If he mentions the race matter, then he is "playing the race card", etc.