Obama may have finally been done in. Until inflammatory comments from the Reverend Jeremiah Wright video were blasted all over the media, the Illinois senator had successfully weathered latent racism, questions about his religion, and character attacks from both the Clinton and McCain campaigns. Now his opponents have finally given the white American public an excuse to hate him.

It's been there all along. Reading user comments on election news, there have been veiled references to Obama's race for months. Some suggested that he was "unelectable." Some people came right out and said they would not vote for a black person; their ignorance is both shocking and disheartening. Others chose to plant seeds of doubt about his religion, stating that he was a Muslim and would ruin the country. (even if he was a Muslim, would it be so wrong to elect him president?) Many fear mongerers just reverted to emphasizing his middle name (Hussein) or calling him "Osama."

There were always whispers of this nebulous "black agenda" that Obama would somehow make a fixture of his presidency. Or his secret Muslim worship would compel him to turn the country over to the terrorists. These suggestions are so outlandish on many levels that they don't even deserve an acknowledgement. Still, for many of the uneducated who did not dismiss them outright, they lodged kernels of doubt. Anti-Obama lobbyists kept emphasizing there was something wrong with Obama and we were going to "find out about" him - they just didn't have any substance yet.

Now this story has finally broken, and all the whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc. who kept insisting they didn't like Obama now have what is, in their mind, a justifiable basis at which to point their finger. A black minister made comments condemning America. Is anyone debating that fact? No. Do I agree with or condone those comments? No. Does Obama? No.

But the reality is that Obama has now been reduced to what his opponents have been trying to label him all along - the "black candidate." Out the door go his policies, his respect, his moral fiber, and his accomplishments. He gets 90% of the black vote because he is black. That is the extent of his candidacy as far as they are concerned. He's too black for the white status quo, move him along.

Whites finally have the reason they've been searching for to hate Obama. Before, they were merely uncomfortable, but now they can quantify those feelings of discomfort as attributable to a 30 second sound bite. You know, I listen to Rage Against the Machine. They have some pretty serious condemnations of America too. Since it's wrong to question America, I must be unpatriotic - or a terrorist. There have been plenty of other songs criticizing or questioning America and her policies too. So I guess anyone who listens to John Lennon (or by extension The Beatles) falls into this category as well. Same goes for lots of punk music. Green Day had some unkind things to say lately. Where does it end? We all have some friends who say some things politically we don't agree with. Do we stop being friends with those people?

Not all whites hate Obama of course. Obviously, I'm white and have nothing against him. There are plenty of other educated white folks out there who realize he is more than just another "black candidate" and judge him accordingly. Some of the smarter people who don't like Obama actually dislike him because of his policies, which are admittedly socialist and will incur increased spending (still better than Hillary's or McCain). This is a GOOD reason not to like Obama. You are not automatically a racist just for disliking Obama - unless the reason you happen to dislike him has anything to do with the color of his skin.

There are two candidates in this presidential race with some integrity - Barack Obama (who has publicly disclosed all his records and tax returns), and Dr. Ron Paul. Unfortunately, Ron Paul is also crazy and expects us to carry around gold in our pockets to pay the bills. He also believes the Constitution is completely untouchable - meaning that things never ever change from now until the end of time and if it ain't in the Constitution, it's no good. It's really too bad, because aside from that he's for less government, less intrusion, and voted against the Iraq war.

The reality of the election is that Obama has a virtually insurmountable lead in pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination. Obama haters and Hillary supporters have failed to acknowledge this for a long time (yet they accuse Obama supporters of being "sheep" and immune to facts). The only way Obama can realistically lose the nomination is if the so-called superdelegates overturn the will of the people and elect someone else. Unfortunately this incident may give superdelegates the ammunition they need to declare Obama "unelectable" and force him out. Let's hope they can look past this to the bigger picture.