Obama’s Race Helped Him Make The Cut, Not Win the Game

Many said during the elections that Obama got to where he is because he is black. They were right in one sense, but they confuse the issue.

Obama race helped him much earlier on than most people think. He was lucky to be picked from a crowd of thousands of lesser political figures who needed to be noteworthy or exceptional in some way. Obama was a black man with the same abilities as the others–so he stood out. So on that point those calling him lucky are correct.

What these people miss, however, is that Obama beat out the final candidates because he is a phenomenal candidate. He defeated them through rhetorical brilliance, a powerfully resonating message, and most of all an intelligent approachability that comes from a personality, not a race. Anyone with those tools has good chances to win.

In short, Obama’s race helped him get noticed early on, but his actually winning was a function of his intelligence and character, not his race. He needed something to get him through the initial vetting that doesn’t focus on deeper qualities, and that was, admittedly, his race. But once he was in public view his actual brilliance took him the rest of the way. ::