So…Obama trounced Clinton in the Iowa caucuses (so did Edwards). Congrats, Obama!

While Edwards had much to be happy for, Obama was the real story last night as he picks up huge momentum going into New Hampshire.

As for Clinton, well, she was looking rather dejected last night. No doubt that this was a big blow to her campaign.

In keeping with what happened, my stance is going back to neutral on the race. I had previously declared preference for Hillary–while my doubts about her were many and growing I viewed her as the most electable candidate. But Obama pulled off his win in a state that has mostly white rural voters, showing that his candidacy is possible.

Yet still, I worry. The 800 pound gorilla in the room remains: is this country ready for a black president? I hear a lot of people say yes, but what lies in wait behind the scenes? Two recent events come to mind.

First was Harold Ford last year in Tennessee, who everyone thought for a while would win a Senate seat. He was doing well until his opponent started running ads featuring scantily clad white women blowing kisses at him, strongly playing into people’s prejudices about black men’s sexual power with white women. His candidacy tanked and his opponent won the race. Maybe he lost because of other reasons, but can we really say that race wasn’t the cause of his defeat in a fairly conservative southern state?

Second was something much more personal and closer to home for me. When I visited with family over the holidays, an older relative of mine and I had a discussion about politics and the likely candidates. When talk turned to Obama, this relative who normally votes Democratic and who normally acts in a non-prejudiced way, said to me: “I don’t want that n****r as president” (or its rough equivalent in Spanish). I was mortified. And while the resulting lecture by me ensued, the back of my mind raced as to the implications. If here in front of me was a fairly rock-solid Democratic voter protesting Obama’s candidacy on the basis of his race, what else awaits Obama elsewhere?

Is this country full of people who put on a veneer of being non-discriminatory but whose real prejudices will come out at the voting booth? We may soon find out.

It’s not that I think someone like Obama shouldn’t risk it. Of course he should. America should remain the country of equal opportunity, and we shouldn’t even be having to ask these questions. But we’re also at a crossroads as a nation, sorely limping in the wake of 7 years of Bush’s despotism and 12 years of GOP Congressional rule. From the economy, to global warming, to our energy dependence, to our international reputation, to the deficit, to poverty, to health insurance, and to a myriad other issues, America seems to have entered a steep decline. We need strong visionary leadership, preferably from a Democrat, to start fixing the mess. As Democrats and as a country we collectively cannot risk anyone but the strongest most electable candidate. Anyone less simply will not do.

We can’t afford to lose again to yet another witless oaf like Huckabee.

My mind is open that Obama could be such a candidate. He is clearly visionary, an amazing speaker, and wildly popular. It may be that he breaks through the glass ceiling of his race and pulls off a spectacular victory, demonstrating that America is finally ready to move forward from its ugly racial past to a new day where the words “equal opportunity” aren’t just empty truisms.

Prove it to me, Obama. Prove to me that you can appeal to more than just the liberal Democratic base–that you can talk with people past their lingering prejudices and straight to their hearts. I would love to see you as President–but you have to prove to me that you have what it takes to win the hearts and minds of a majority of people in this country, including in the South.

I desperately want to believe. I’m just not there yet.

Tags: 2008-election, clinton, democrats, iowa, obama