Anne Applebaum: 'Being Black Is an Advantage for Obama'

Says Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post:

No wonder the cliched word “change” works like magic for Obama. And no wonder it is beginning to seem, possibly for the first time in history, that it is better to be black. To put it bluntly, for a large, frequently inattentive electorate, there could be no more potent symbol of his differentness, his non-Clinton-non-Bushness, than Obama’s dark skin. His race also functions as a form of branding, telling you that he is the anti-oligarch in this contest, “the man from Hawaii by way of Jakarta, Chicago and Harvard.” It’s even more effective than a famous surname. You don’t have to hear him speak to know he isn’t related to this president or any other: Just look at his photograph.

Thoughts?

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.