"'And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community'

Obama cited anti-immigrant sentiment, black-Jewish clashes and scorn for the gay community as examples of how blacks had fallen short and added: 'Our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party.'"

I think Dickerson misses Obama's point about speaking hard truths. Obama is not going to do it in every speech. He's trying to win the nomination afterall, not a contest to get everyone mad at you. But he is nonetheless willing to tell people things they don't want to hear when it is important to do so.

Dickerson dismisses the case where Obama went to Detroit and advocated for higher fuel standards because there is a wing of the party that loves that position. But that is unfair, epecially considering that countless politicians would simply skip the fuel standards line in Detroit and save it for when they stump in front of an environmental group.