There certainly will be some racist Democrats and Independents who won't vote for Obama because of his race. That's an undeniable reality. There were also Christians who wouldn't vote for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon, men who wouldn't vote for Hillary because she's a woman, blacks who wouldn't vote for Hillary because she is white, people who won't vote for McCain because they think he's too old, etc, etc.

Will Obama's race cost him significantly more votes than McCain's age or Hillary's sex would have, if she had been the nominee? While that's certainly an open question, I haven't seen much evidence that Obama's race is an enormous hurdle compared to the baggage that the other candidates brought to the table.

To the contrary, I would say that Barack Obama's race is actually his primary asset, not his biggest liability.

Obama is arguably the single least qualified serious candidate for the presidency on either the Republican or Democratic side and he only won the nomination because black Democrats voted for him en masse because he's also black. Had Barack Obama been white, not only would he have failed to beat Hillary Clinton, he would have been fighting it out with Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd in the "4th rate also ran" category.

Moreover, look at what Barack Obama brings to the table: he has almost no experience, has terrible judgment, isn't particularly bright, is gaffe prone, arrogant...he will be one of the least capable, least promising, least qualified men to become President in American history if he actually wins the election.

So, what does he have going for him? The political environment -- which he didn't create. He's also good at reading stump speeches -- which he didn't write. He's also young -- which again, isn't an accomplishment.

Other than that, he has the fact that a lot of white Americans would love to put a black man in the White House so that they can finally say, "See? America isn't a racist country because we have a black President!"

In other words, Barack Obama is a mediocrity who has risen this far, this fast, largely by trading on the color of his skin. If he were white, even in this heavily pro-Democratic environment, he'd have little chance of beating John McCain - and it's about time more people started pointing out that rather obvious fact.