I understand, in the sense of expecting and knowing what the nuance is, the distancing from Wright's points. But it's a useful exercise to ask what difference it would make if Obama felt exactly as Wright seems to.

The worst I can come up with would be a hesitation to employ force, without sound reasons, against brown people out there in the world. The horror!

Or maybe it will undercut faithful execution of the law if Obama is not trusting enough of whites in banking and other powerful positions. Trust, but verify, if the current financial flap is indicative.

Let's imagine Obama as a secret black-power infiltrator. What perfidious programs will he promote, what treasons would he perpetrate? Ah, I have it---he might allow copies of Noam Chomsky books in the White House! The points Wright made tended toward the outsider's view, the opinion that disallows exceptionalism as an excuse for American policy, and for its effects.

This strikes me as a healthy counter to the ignorant jingoism of Bush. It might also counter the arrogance of Cheney, who answered the charge that Americans find little justification for the Iraq invasion by saying "So?" It deflates the messianic visions of neocons, and exposes the selfish convenience of conflict investment, disaster capitalism.

I would not be upset to find that Obama actually agrees with Wright's positions, as long as it is tempered with the hopeful optimism he exhibits in every other activity.

It won't matter what people say, if they don't show up at the polls. No poll has tried very hard to ask directly: "Will you vote in November?"

There are some demographics with reliable voting records, older folks particularly. But the less-reliable groups, like my children (20-somethings), and those without land phones reachable through polling, can skew the vote tremendously.

But even more important, I think is the feeling of wanting to be with a winner, or not be with a loser. If Republicans see some doubt, and a surging Democratic Party, they might stay home in surprising numbers. Conversely, Democrats might smell a sea change developing and want to be in on it.

It's not obvious that when one's vote is most desperately needed is when it is least certain. But it's hard to vote for a near-certain loss. It makes you feel like a chump. Better to say "I knew that was a bust so I skipped it." We often feel our vote is so tiny and trivial it can't matter---only as part of a larger movement is there any satisfaction.

But our feelings are symptomatic---if we are despondent others are, too. If we are energized, other similar voters are, too. So if GOP voters hear the PR buzz around the Democratic candidate they might just throw in the towel.

GOP tends to attempt vote suppression. We need to emphasize the hell  out of the opposite. If there are enough news stories about huge new registration rolls, it will encourage McCain voters to stay home, and suppress their own vote.