Obama's Racial Plea

Writing before the speech, Andrew Sullivan takes Obama's stance personally:

"I have to say that it is precisely the wide span of Obama's bridge that makes me admire him. He has refused to disown Wright, while also refusing to endorse all of his message. You can call that opportunistic or expedient or cynical. You can also call it intelligent and brave and principled. Obama could have chosen the Shelby Steele route or even the Alan Keyes or Condi Rice path. He could equally have chosen the Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton path. But what is unique about Obama is that he tried and is trying to do much more than any of them have -- to express all of these racial strategies and to transcend them. While being human. He isn't a saint or a savior. But he is trying . . .

"And maybe it's appropriate for me at this point to express how he has inspired me as a gay man to keep trying to maintain the bridge over the gulfs of my own various identities rather than to burn it."

The conservative black author Shelby Steele, in a pre-speech post, says Obama "has turned his blackness into his great political advantage, and also into a kind of personal charisma. Bargainers are conduits of white innocence, and they are as popular as the need for white innocence is strong. Mr. Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence . . .

"Race helps Mr. Obama in another way -- it lifts his political campaign to the level of allegory, making it the stuff of a far higher drama than budget deficits and education reform. His dark skin, with its powerful evocations of America's tortured racial past, frames the political contest as a morality play. Will his victory mean America's redemption from its racist past? Will his defeat show an America morally unevolved? Is his campaign a story of black overcoming, an echo of the civil rights movement? . . .

"The press, normally happy to dispel every political pretension, has all but quivered before Mr. Obama. They, too, have feared being on the wrong side of destiny.

"And yet, in the end, Barack Obama's candidacy is not qualitatively different from Al Sharpton's or Jesse Jackson's. Like these more irascible of his forbearers, Mr. Obama's run at the presidency is based more on the manipulation of white guilt than on substance."

To suggest that a man who has inspired millions is just trying to exploit white guilt strikes me as insulting. But everyone's got a viewpoint.

John McCain has a 67 approval rating, according to Gallup, compared to 62 percent for Obama and 53 percent for Hillary Clinton. Of course, McCain hasn't been attacked much lately, and even when he has, it's been totally overshadowed by the Democratic race.

Eliot Spitzer was in office 15 months before his hooker habit came to light. For David Paterson it was . . . one day until we heard about an extramarital affair, carried out at the less-than-glamorous Days Inn. Now the plot is getting more complicated:

"In an extraordinary public confession less than 24 hours after taking office," says the Daily News, "Gov. Paterson said Tuesday he has had affairs with 'a number of women' in the not-so-distant past - including a current state employee.

"Standing shoulder to shoulder with his grim-faced wife, Michelle, the governor said his 'conscience is clear' -- now that he has come clean about his private infidelities . . .

"Sources later identified her as Lila Kirton, 49, whom Spitzer brought over from his attorney general's staff when he became governor last year. She is now community affairs director for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

"Paterson insisted he never supervised the woman and never used state funds for any of his trysts, some of which took place at the Days Inn at Broadway and W. 94th St."

Paterson "conceded that at least one dalliance continued into his term as lieutenant governor, which began only 14 months ago."

"At first, he suggested, his wandering ways were motivated by jealousy after learning of his wife's affair. 'When I became aware of something, I was pretty upset and I was kind of just angry,' he said before quickly moving to absolve his wife of any real blame. 'I was jealous over Michelle,' he added. 'But it was not Michelle's fault.' "

How does anyone in Albany have time to govern?

And don't forget Ashley! The New York Post has new details on Spitzer's favorite hooker:

" 'Girls Gone Wild' honcho Joe Francis yesterday offered $1 million for Ashley Alexandra Dupre to appear nude in a video and magazine spread -- but then quickly rescinded the deal after realizing he already had steamy footage of the hot-to-trot call girl in action when she was 18.

" 'She spent a week on the bus, where she engaged in girl-girl action and got nude,' Francis told the Post."

And Francis, who is fresh out of prison, couldn't resist this chivalrous shot:

"I personally remember Ashley. She was really at her peak back then. I'm glad I got to her before Spitzer -- she looked a lot better at 18."

Anyone else feel like taking a shower?