P.S., He's black.

The whisper campaign by Hillary Clinton and her proxies has grown nearly silent since the South Carolina primary when the tactic seemed to backfire. But it was a good test because almost certainly Barack Obama will face similar nasty politicking in the general election. It is heartening that democratic primary/caucus voters have not fallen for those who would appeal to America's lesser tendencies. Nevertheless, the Rove-inspired machine that gave us Swiftboating and McCain's bastard children is certainly going to remind voters that Barack is black. Primaries are good practice for the pressures of the campaign and the office. A significant portion of Obama’s appeal is his comfort in his multiracial skin. In polite company people will ask, ‘is the country ready for a black president?' This is code for, ‘some people are not ready for a black man as president', which is code for a lingering fear of a black planet. Welcome to the terrordome will be the subtext of fear in the republican campaign against Obama. For a taste of what good people will have to endure this fall, we can look to a recent demagogic racial appeal by Governor Huckabee:

You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag. In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole; that's what we'd do.

The language is coded, but it is an authentic old-school racist appeal. The Confederate Battle flag was first flown over the state capitol in 1962 in defiance of the civil rights movement. When Huckabee channels the spirit of the Stars & Bars or Clinton reminds us that he’s black, they are purposefully provoking and exploiting a racialized ugliness that probably will win some votes. We can expect plenty more of that this fall. Let us hope that candidate Obama can move us collectively closer to the better angels of our nature.