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Obama seen as unifying black and white voters

BY MARTIN C. EVANS | martin.evans@newsday.com

11:36 PM EST, January 7, 2008

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DERRY, N.H. - In the frozen north that is New Hampshire, an Illinois senator is poised to do what no man has done before -- become the first African-American to emerge from the early presidential selection process as the clear front-runner.

He has done it by crafting a populist message that has tapped into the desire of voters here to end decades of infighting between Democrats and Republicans, and to banish traditions of racial politics that have divided white and black voters since Reconstruction.

"There is a moment in the life of every generation, if we are to make our mark on history, where that spirit of hope has to come through," Barack Obama said. "This is our moment, this is our time."

Obama, who has a double-digit lead over Clinton in several of the latest New Hampshire polls, is appealing to Americans dissatisfied by the constant bickering that has come to define politics in Washington, say analysts.

"I think what we're seeing on both the Democratic and the Republican side is people responding to somebody that they know can reach across the aisle and appeal to independent voters," said Republican consultant Mark McKinnon.

Conversations in New Hampshire's coffee shops, supermarket checkout lines and college campuses show that among many voters, Obama has managed to allay the two main concerns raised by Clinton: that he lacks sufficient experience to be president, and that choosing him as the Democratic nominee would give Republicans an easy opponent in the general election.

"I think just the opposite," said Brent Carney, 31, a member of the town council in Derry. "He is invigorating voters who have never come out before and are hungry for change from politics as usual in Washington."

But to become the first African-American to win the nomination of a major party, Obama would have to confound an American history of racial politics that dates back to Reconstruction, when segregationists in the South and ethnic rivalry in the North mostly suppressed black political power.

It also remains to be seen whether Obama, whose campaign is composed largely of white staff and who has sometimes avoided racially tinged controversy, can overcome the suspicions of some voters in states with large black populations.

And he would continue to face a Clinton campaign revving up its attacks on his readiness for office. "Some of us are right and some of us are wrong. Some of us are ready and some of us are not," Clinton said Monday.

But Obama's strong showing indicates the appeal of racial politics may finally be receding, as a generation of workplace interactions, a growing black middle class, more nuanced depictions of blacks in the media and the influence of black immigrants less wounded by the legacy of racial hostility have led to more and closer relations between black and white Americans.

In Iowa and New Hampshire, where blacks make up less than 3 percent of the population, white residents have said Obama's gentle but constant references to the civil rights movement represent a call to justice. He has alluded to slavery and to the sacrifices of 1960s civil rights activists, and echoes Martin Luther King Jr. in nearly every speech. A generation ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential bid was often criticized as a crude appeal to white racial guilt and black victimhood.

David Bartle, 53, who is white, said Obama has rekindled a long-dormant sense of mission among Americans of his generation.

"He is almost Kennedyesque in his ability to reach out to all people," said Bartle. "Growing up in the '60s, we baby boomers saw what could happen by people coming together. For us, that was an exciting time."