If you think Barak Obama understands black America because his skin is somewhat less than white, I think you are sadly mistaken. Sen. Obama's father left home when his son was very young. Obama was raised by his white mother, living with his grandparents in Hawaii for the better part of his youth. Whatever the Senator knows of the experience of African Americans, he has learned in a relatively brief time and as an observer, not a participant. It's possible that Sen. Clinton is in a better position to represent black Americans, as she has had more time to observe, if not to experience first-hand. Just how is it that this issue has become so important? No candidate can have the exerience of all minority Americans. The issue is, can they empathize, can they imagine, do they care?

It seems to me that you have answered your own rhetorical questions. I think that Obama is better able to sympathize, empathize, imagine, and care then Hillary Clinton. Not because of his skin color, but because of his life experiences which were less privileged than Hillary Clinton's.

You're right that Hillary has done more than her fair share of observing. But I think Obama's work on the South Side of Chicago counts as experience as a true participant, which is far far greater than Hillary's arms-length observations. As a board member of Walmart, I'm sure she was the one who implemented all of their minority focused policies!

The greater, and more obvious, point was made adroitly above: Obama clearly has a better capacity to empathize and connect with a more diverse electorate.

If you think that a white person observing African Americans can better represent them than a biracial person who upon first glance looks African American and has likely been treated like an African American, has married an African American and taken up causes of African Americans (last I heard the South Side of Chicago was still dominated by African Americans), you are living in some serious kind of dream world.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if African Americans believed that HRC was in the best position to represent them, it stands to reason that they would overwhelmingly give HRC their support, in the same manner as African Americans threw their support behind WJC. However, we know that not to be the case--African Americans are not supporting HRC in large numbers, so one can speculate that they do not feel she can empathize, imagine or care about them in the way that they feel Obama can.

If HRC wants to gain the support of African Americans, she probably needs to change her campaign strategy.