The Obama Dividend

Obviously, not all black adults and children would suddenly start doing exactly what President Obama tells them. As he said in his Philadelphia speech, he's not naive enough to believe that one politician will transform American attitudes. But it must make at least some difference when Obama tells African-American audiences, as he did this year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, that they need to stop being homophobic and anti-Semitic. This is powerful stuff and would make him an important president even if his legislation stalled.

It's unlikely, however, that Obama would be completely stymied. The explanatory and inspirational abilities that he has already shown would help him push his program and move the nation on issues far beyond race. The reason that he has done so well so far is that he's proved levelheaded and stepped up when it counted—at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, last November, in his concession speech in New Hampshire and again in Philadelphia. Don't confuse his failure to close the sale with weakness under pressure. Barack Obama knows how to think big, elevate the debate and transport the public to a new place. That's what real presidents are for.

© 2008