Obama's speech laid the groundwork for reaching blue collar folks, but it was too multi-directional to make a sale. Here's what I'd say directly to them.

The race problem in this country boils down to disrespect. That's what the Politcal Correctness movement did to people like you. It disrespected you for being racially insensitive. It put people down hard for being racist, when their only sin was the kind of uneintentinal insensitivity practically all of us are guilty of. The PC movement forced otherwise honest people, like commentator Andy Rooney, out of their jobs just for saying things that were racially insensitive. That was wrong, and it created understandable anger in white people. The PC movement now seems ridiculous as well as cruel. If we had to fire everybody or dump on everybody for being insensitve now and then, we'd be doing nothing else.

I'm advocating disagreeing without being disagreeable. Those aren't just nice words. I've lived by that principle as State Senator. I lived by that principle with my Caucasion Grandmother. Because I knew her to be a fine person, I didn't make a big deal when she used racial slurs. I feel the same way toward everyone, whether it be my pastor or a tough talking coal miner who hates affirmative action. We can look past some of the harsh things we say to see the whole person, to see that underneath some of the mean spirited things we say, we really are good people who want the best for all Americans.

That's the new level of understanding I bring to this candidacy. Because of being raised by a white woman who said harsh things about some blacks, I know first hand that most people are basically good people who should be respected. I have a passion to bring us together, to see what's best in each of us instead of focussing on the negative. That's what will bring us forward. I think I'm best suited by personal experience, temperament, and on the job experience to lead us toward better race relations that satisfy everyone, not just one group. If we don't aim for that result, we will remain where we are.

My opponents put me down being long on words and short on policy. I don't want to box us in by saying that we should do this or that about affirmative action or school busing. I say, Let's get all the interested parties together and create a climate of profound respect for everybody's interests. I've seen over and over again that this method creates solutions that satisfy both sides of conflicts. But if we get lost in anger and disrespect, we solve nothing.

A pastor in Oakland who is a friend of Pastor Wright's responded to my speech in Philadelphia about race by saying that "Brother Obama has called us to be our highest selves." He said he wants to do just that in his ministry to his curch and community. If this formerly militant black minister can have a change of heart, so can you. You can learn to trust me when I say that I am all about enabling people to solve problems in mutually satisfying ways. Please joine me.