Race - The Issue That Won't Go Away for Democrats

In a strictly analytical sense, Ferraro is probably right.  But we all know that there are things you might want to say differently when it comes to race and the Obama run for President - and this one certainly fell flat.

Obama himself denounced it as "slice and dice" politics, accusing the Clinton team of trying its best to divide his supporters by repeatedly bringing up issues related to race.

At a news conference in Chicago, Obama said, "The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African American named Barack Obama and pursue the presidency, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public."

And that is pretty much the truth as well.  Blacks running for high political offices have to overcome distinct hurdles in the political world.

Ferraro on Wednesday stepped down from an honorary campaign finance post she held with the Clinton campaign, telling Hillary in a resignation letter, 'the Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen."

Ferraro certainly didn't go quietly, as she made the rounds of the TV networks on Wednesday morning, sternly defending herself and bitterly denying accusations that she was making overtly racial remarks.

The former New York Congresswoman was lampooned on some more liberal blogs like Talking Points Memo, which mocked her in a video montage entitled "Send In The Clown."

Will Bunch at "Attytood" meanwhile blasted Ferraro as part of Hillary Clinton's "Archie Bunker strategy" for Pennsylvania, a simple effort to exploit the fears of blue collar Democrats when it comes to a black candidate for President.

Maybe I'm just naive.  I didn't think we'd get to this kind of battle over race in the Democratic Primary.  I figured that if Obama were the nominee, we might run into this in the November election.

This race issue isn't going away.  Not anytime soon.

How Obama handles it, how the media portrays it and how Hillary Clinton deals with it will be very interesting to watch.

Just go out and read some of the blogs on both sides.  You'll get the picture.