Bravo! You made an elegant case for some of the ways race is being used as a tool in this year's presidential contest. I'd love to see a longer threaded conversation on race in 2008 here in Slate - with you and Mr Weisberg amongst the participants. And with a diverse group of writers who bring a balance of urban/coastal/academic and rural/mid-country values.

Unfortunately, it's probably too danged tricky to pull off - unless perhaps Slate can find a couple of well respected African American writers to help jump start the process. I'd nominate Shelby Steele to be one of them.