If it had not been for Race he would not have won.

HERE ARE SOME POINTS THAT NEED MAKING.

1.  He had only 2 years of Washington experience. I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness -- a certain audacity ... he said. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. After becoming a lawyer he practiced law in Illinois before running for congress. During those 2 years in Congress, one of his major stands was denouncing the War.

2. If it had not been for his being a good speaker he would not have been as successful.

He's known as "a speaker who appealed not to intellect alone, but also to the hearts and souls of citizens.

3. He had the audacity to give his "A house divided against itself cannot stand" speech on the steps of the Old Statehouse in Illinois.

4. If it had not been for Race he would not have won.

This Diary is about a man that I respect and admire. He's a great inspiration for all of us; a great civil rights leader, a uniter in the truest sense of the meaning. America could see how discrimination and racism was tearing our country apart. So he became the 16th President of the United States and a true leader. He is considered the greatest president in U.S. history by many (if not most). HIS NAME IS ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Few can deny that the United States would not have ended slavery as soon if it had not been for Abraham Lincoln. We might not even be the United States of America as we know it. It took a great leader to bring us together in those terrible times. It will take a great leader to bring us together today. And it's obvious that it doesn't take lots of Washington experience to make a great president.

There are many paralels with Obama and Lincoln.

Standing on the grounds of the Old State Capitol],

where Lincoln delivered his famous "House Divided" speech against slavery in 1858, the Democratic first-term senator began a bid for the White House that barely seemed possible just a few months ago but could make him the first black president. "I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness -- a certain audacity -- to this announcement," he said. "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."

Geraldine Ferraro (and other Hillary's supporters) can make claims that Obama doesn't have the right experience. He's winning because he's black. He'll lose because he's black. He's too liberal to win. And on and on.

But saying it doesn't make it so. We all know that America can respond to a great leader. Lincoln took unpopular political positions and succeeded in becoming president and bringing us together. Steven A. Douglas tried to play the race (slave) card, but it was underdog Lincoln who became president.

I think that Barack Obama will become president because of race. Not because he's African American. But because Hillary's campaign played the race card too much and America cried foul. Therefore, my diary heading; "If it had not been for Race he would not have won".

That said, I don't think Hillary, Geraldine, Bill and others are racist. They're in a hard fight for the nomination. Some stupid tactics have backfired. Especially those with racial overtones. Those same tactics might have been effective against a lesser candidate. But Barak Obama has risen to the challenge.  Like I've said before, Hillary would make a very good president. Barack Obama would make an even better president. Maybe a great president. GO OBAMA!!!