Would a junior senator with few proven qualifications be gaetting this much adoration if he wasn’t black? The media and its leftist utopian supporters are the ones who are the racists.

I don't think Osama would be getting this much adoration if he didn't give a knockout speech at the Democratic primary.

But even before that, he was already adored in Illinois. Was it because he was black? Unlikely. Otherwise, Alan Keyes (remember him?) would have had a bigger percentage of the vote when he ran against Obama for the Senate seat. I think the guy's got charisma and ran a campaign with a positive message.

Alan Keyes, too, is well-spoken and articulate and black. But the guy's a little nutty. We preferred Obama much much more.

If it is a backhanded compliment or somehow an act of bigotry to refer to Colin Powell or Barach Obama as “articulate” or simply that they speak well then why is it ok to say that about Bill Clinton or JFK or any number of other well-spoken individuals? I don’t see it.

The point that most African-Americans understand is that people RARELY use the term "articulate" with anyone *other* than African-Americans. The subtle message is that it's unusual for an African-American to be articulate.

You'd have to had been paying attention to the usage of the term for a while to see this term used repeatedly with African-Americans, especially those in public life. I've heard the term used for Colin Powell (which Chris Rock joked about in a stand-up routine), Condoleezza Rice, and many others (including myself and my family member) over the years and almost NEVER hear it used when refering to a white official or candidate.

Caliban,

Triumph fancies himself a satirist, I think, although he drifts back and forth between direct expression and presumptive parody of extreme right views that it’s not always clear.

The Obama stuff isn't satire. Fox covered it as well as Insight magazine.

Does the fact that most people can't spell "Giuliani" make any difference?

"Barack Obama" is just not going to play well. Leaving aside the people, like my boss, who make a point of calling him "Osama."

Not mine.

Len, if you're referring to Bush (for whom I did not vote in 2000), you're conflating aptitude with qualifications. One of the reasons I didn't vote for Bush in 2000 was that I didn't think he had the aptitude to be president.

However, the governor of any large state whatever else his shortcomings may be has qualifications for the presidency that are hard to match for any senator, especially a freshman senator who's served less than two years.

However, he lacks (1) a politically ruthless father with extremely deep pockets and many chits to call in, (2) a potential running mate who has vote stealing credentials in a key state, and (3) the support of the head of a big-city political machine who can deliver another key state.

Triumph fancies himself a satirist, I think, although he drifts back and forth between direct expression and presumptive parody of extreme right views that it's not always clear.

1. Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

2. The school he attended is not a madrasa. It is a public school attended by all faiths, which happens to be in a Muslim-majority country. He also attended a Catholic school in the same country for roughly the same amount of time.

3. The Muslim people are not enemies of this country, and to the best of my knowledge Mr. Obama has never knowingly associated with enemies of this country.

But who cares, right? Just keep the nigger out of the White House. We don't want no black house.

If he were to receive the nomination of the party, Barack Obama would be the least qualified major party candidate in my memory.

Not mine.

Spelling fixed. Mostly, it's just because it's a name I've never seen before, so remembering how it's spelled is hard.

If he were to receive the nomination of the party, Barack Obama would be the least qualified major party candidate in my memory.

The main problem with Obama is that he is muslim and was educated in a madrasa in one of the world's largest islamic countries.

Because of his association with enemies of the US, he will not be elected.