Is Obama the Best They've Got?

Political Diary has a piece today on the Dem plans in the event of an expected Hillary swoon in the 2008 presidential campaign. Many observers, as noted here yesterday, don't think Hillary can win the general election, and therefore might not even win the primary once the Dem voters figure that out. So who have they got in the bullpen?

PD is suggesting that the great off-white hope is Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who has been on the national stage for approximately one year. He's the best they've got?

If Senator Hillary Clinton should stumble as a presidential candidate for any reason or even decline to run, Democrats are already indicating who would be close to the top of their list: freshman Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Although Mr. Obama, a 44-year-old former state legislator, has only held national office for a year, he is drawing rave reviews in party circles.

"I'm hearing he is a rock star," says Chuck Todd, editor of the political tip sheet Hotline. "He's the only minority politician who can go to any one of the 50 states and raise gobs of money and excite voters at the same time."

Indeed, Senator Dick Durbin, Mr. Obama's colleague from Illinois, went out of his way on Sunday to say he would endorse his friend if he ran. "I think he really has the capacity to bring a lot of red and blue states together for a change so that we start seeing common goals in this country," he told reporters. "Young people are in particular inspired by his message, and people like Barack don't come along very often."

Then PD adds this little bit of Dem voter psychology:

As Democrats see it, an Obama candidacy would attract many white voters who would want to show racial good will by voting for a minority candidate, while at the same time dramatically boost turnout among black voters in a general election.

So much for judging people by the content of their character. Apparently Dems, who do most everything by feeling instead of thinking, actually believe people will be bullied into voting for Obama out of some sort of "white guilt", rather than choosing the best candidate for the job. What has Obama done in his 44 years that makes him the best candidate for president?

Republican voters don't base their decisions on "white guilt", so if the Dems are expecting a big crossover vote based on the candidate's race, they're going to be very disappointed. As for me, I no longer suffer from "white guilt" thanks to Professor Walter E. Williams, who granted me a full pardon and amnesty for any past grievances I or my ancestors may have committed in our relationship with African-Americans. I have the certificate to prove it, and you can get yours here. The last section of the certificate sums it up nicely:

I, Walter E. Williams, do declare full and general amnesty and pardon to all persons of European ancestry, for both their own grievances, and those of their forebears, against my people.

Therefore, from this day forward Americans of European ancestry can stand straight and proud knowing they are without guilt and thus obliged not to act like damn fools in their relationships with Americans of African ancestry.

Consequently, I will be voting for the best candidate for President, regardless of race. Run Obama if he's the best you've got, but if he's just some sort of racial poster boy, the voters will see through that in a hurry.

Oh, by the way, if Obama is not on the Dem ticket, but Condi Rice is on the GOP ticket, will the guilty-feeling white Dems rush out to vote for Condi in order to "show racial good"?