I'd agree with LA_Renter here. Again, I'm not against Obama. (Though my discloser is that I'm predicting a landslide House/Senate toward democrats, so I'm voting for McCain in hopes that a Democrat congress + republican executive = no wild ass extreme government policies we've seen the past 8 years with a dominated party on both sides). Obama probably is a unifier. BUT, reality is any association to some of these other public figures (direct or not) is going to hurt him.
He's going to be in a tough bind. On one hand, he needs votes from whites and other minorities, and thus race can't be an issue. At the same time, he's going to have to be careful that he doesn't enrage african american focus groups that will call him a "sell out". That said, Hillary has her own issues. I don't know if you folks caught that she fired her campaign manager because her campaign manager uttered a sleuth of disparage remarks.
McCain's camp is probably laughing their asses off right now,because both Obama and Hillary's campaigns are doing a pretty good job ripping each other apart. The big wildcard question is, who will be McCain's mate. Just speculation, if he picks Colin Powell,
I'd say a McCain/Powell ticket might give the Democrats a run for the money, especially if Obama doesn't win. Because in this particular ticket, race would be in their favor. You have your white elder man, you have a well respected African American "moderate".. And Ironically, if that happens, Powell probably will be president eventually, because McCain probably will croak while in office.
Gosh, I hate myself. I normally hate talking about politics. But this definitely will be an interesting election, regardless of how it turns out. It's better than watching any reality show for sure.