Barack Obama gave a hair-raising speech about race relations in America yesterday. As expected, the Left and his supporters continue to swoon and sing his praises while the Right says it wasn’t enough and continues to ask many tough questions. I found it typical for him, a great speaker but an empty suit. Obama consistently displays a talent for pointing out America's flaws and describing the utopian society that comes after those flaws are corrected. Yet, he consistently falls short of explaining his plan for correcting things, and how he plans to take us to that utopia. What he says sounds wonderful, until you ask how he plans to do it. Meanwhile, in the wake of the recent controversy regarding Jeremiah Wright, non-partisans and moderates are left asking just one simple question…What does race have to do with it?

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with what Obama said in his speech. Yes, race continues to be a heated political issue. Yes, it is divisive. Yes, we need to maintain healthy dialogue and unite to heal our racial divisions. That’s all great and I’m all for it. But what does that have to do with the issue at hand? Unless I’m mistaken, the discussion has been Obama’s ties with a controversial anti-American preacher. Perhaps that preacher has made some racially charged statements, but race is not the driving issue here. The driving issue is how we perceive our country. Is it good or is it bad? Are we right or wrong and where have we sided historically in that great conflict between good and evil? This is a fundamental question that, in many ways, is more divisive than race. Some Americans believe this country is inherently bad and is in need of drastic reform (ie, socialism and Marxism) while MOST Americans feel we are inherently good and have been throughout history. That’s what the issue is. Yet, for some reason, Barack Obama continues to make race a major issue in this campaign and I don’t understand why.

Someone needs to explain to the Senator that the majority of Americans don’t have a problem with the fact that he is black. If he wants to heal our racial divisions, I think it starts with that simple admission. Most Americans would vote for a black candidate if he were qualified. Most Americans would not vote against a qualified candidate simply because of his/her race (or gender for that matter). For someone who insists that his candidacy is not about race, he sure is making a big deal about his own ethnicity.

Once again, as is often the case, a Democrat politician has completely missed the point. Obama is losing favor among moderates and independents because of his affiliation with Rev Jeremiah Wright. That is a fact. And he isn’t losing favor because Wright is black, or because Wright makes racially charged comments. He’s losing favor because Wright is making anti-American comments. That’s the fundamental problem here, and Obama has completely ignored it.

The fact is, most Americans think favorably of their country. Most Americans believe America is a nation that has made mistakes, but is overall a nation of good. Yes, there are many in this country who think America is bad or evil or whatever, but they tend to be radical Leftists and are clearly the minority. Rev Wright is one of these people, and his comments reflect it. THAT’s what makes people mad and that’s what has turned moderates and independents away from Obama. We don’t care that Wright is black. We don’t care that Obama is black. We do care that a sitting Senator and presidential candidate affiliates himself with someone who sees the US and Al Qaeda on equal ground and says there is no moral difference between Hiroshima and 9/11. That kind of statement may find favor and agreement among the radical Left, but it is highly offensive to most Americans. Race has nothing to do with it. If Obama’s pastor were white and still saying these things, Obama would still be facing the same problem.

But, Obama’s speech yesterday focused on race and not the anti-American sentiment voiced by Wright. It is a major oversight and will prove to be costly to Obama. It shows that, as with most Democrats, he just doesn’t get it. The Democrat party has time-and-again sided with the anti-American crowd, dating back to the Vietnam and Cold War days. If there is a cry against America, it is usually coming from our Leftist population and, frankly, that is the major reason why people vote against (or sometimes for) Democrats. That party has slowly become synonymous with anti-Americanism and it has hurt them in the past two presidential elections and will likely hurt them in this one. Anti-American rhetoric is rejected by the vast majority of citizens and this is no different. That’s why I say the Wright issue won’t hurt Obama in the primary season but will certainly hurt him in the general election. We are already seeing it happen.

Senator Barack Obama is a black man and he needs to get over it. Instead of pointing this out repeatedly, he needs to explain why he is qualified to lead the most powerful nation on the planet as Commander in Chief, and he needs to explain why he lends his stature to a man who holds vile contempt towards his country. So far, Obama has failed to do this and if he continues to make his race a primary issue in this election, while ignoring the true issues at hand, he will certainly lose.

We don’t care that you’re black, Senator. Please explain why you associate with and support a man who sees no moral difference between Hiroshima and 9/11.