Why are Black Americans rallying behind Barack Obama? Simple answer – racial solidarity.

It's no different than when African-Americans gave Clarence Thomas a free pass by overlooking his alleged sexual harassment of Anita Hill. They overlooked that because they saw it as a conspiracy to deny (once again) a black man his due. And the proof is in the silence Black America practices with respect to Clarence's actual work on the Supreme court. He got there and this is all that matters to Black America: There's one of us on the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, in barber shops and hair salons all over Detroit, St. Louis, and Washington D.C., Black Americans don't even talk PROUDLY of Clarence. In fact, they never mention him at all. They don't even read the majority opinions he authors when he authors any. Rather, they treat him much like a wayward cousin or uncle who is one of their own, but just not beloved enough to earn a portrait slot - right below nanny's and grandpa's - above the fireplace mantel.

Similarly, Black America overlooked OJ's killing of his wife b/c they were tired of Black men being disproportionately incarcerated and penalized by a biased criminal justice system. They wanted white society to make amends for historical trespasses, and thus they did all they could NOT to believe and trust their own judgment. OJ would be innocent because for so long, mainstream American had been so guilty of assuming criminal intent and guilt simply based on the skin color of the accused. OJ would be innocent just to prove a point, but he wouldn't be innocent simply because the facts left a possibility of innocence. Never mind that all over the country during the time of the trial, thousands of "Keisha's" could be heard saying, "Girl, you know he did it!".

We now arrive at a significant point in history when a talented person of color is only inches from grasping the golden chalice. African Americans will rally around him and protect him irrationally, not because they understand his politics or favor his policy positions. No. In fact, many of his supporters can't even tell you his positions on say - health care, immigration policy, and affirmative action. They can't even name one significant piece of legislation he has sponsored in his less-than-one-term in the Senate. Rather, they rally because their act of rallying is a type of retribution - we (African Americans) are going to seize what is due us (entitlement mentality) and now you all (white America, and out-of-line African Americans too) stand the hell back.

The question of merit is not even on the table. Authenticity is less of an issue too, and even Barack Obama's no-show at the Sate of the Black Union conference in New Orleans was clearly overlooked by Black America. For much of Black America, it is a question of allowing one Black American to get his due for the rest of Black America who have been denied their due for so long. If he gets to the White House and stays there for 8 years AND does nothing all the while, they will be content in knowing that, well, a Black man was President of the US, just like another Black man sat on the US Supreme Court, and both in our lifetime. How they get there and whether or not they are qualified is irrelevant. The only thing that matters for the Black community is racial solidarity, and such solidarity even extends to pushing an adherent of post-racial politics over the proverbial hump so he can lay claim to a due for all the "peeps".

I have been wondering why there wasn't more discussion of the math with the rest of the primaries... But CNN has a great tool.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/29/delegate.counter/index.html

Is show how hard it is for her to catch up even if you give her the benefit of the doubt.

Look at those states left.... WI was her last stand. Even if she wins all three tomorrow. She will really have to completly change the dynamic. I guess maybe that win does that but I am not sure...

And she should have fought to keep FL and MI in from the beginning. But then again she might have lost NH then.

... even if she does win the popular vote here, the Democratic Party's baroque mathematics will probably make Obama the winner anyway.

Texas apportions delegates via a complicated system that gives Obama's voters more say than Clinton's.

The Texas Democratic Party awards delegates by State Senatorial District based on the Democratic population in each district as evidenced by previous voter turnout. Why award more delegates to districts that haven't cared in the past? If Hispanics haven't historically turned out to vote Democratic, awarding fewer delegates to those districts is perfectly "fair and balanced." That doesn't give "Obama's voters more say than Clinton's." It does reward districts who have turned out more Democratic voters in the past, and if those districts happen to have a demographic that more favors Obama, that's the fault of past the performance in Hillary's base.

Your argument is about as sound as claiming that Obama has a disadvantage in highly Republican districts because a lot of Republicans will be turning out to vote for him, but because their votes are cast in districts with low historical Democratic turnout, their votes don't count as much.

To quote a famous ex-President: "Give me a break!"

The Clinton campaign tries to poo-poo the validity of caucuses, claiming they're not representative and not democratic. Texas used to be an entirely caucus state, but added the primary several years ago to give a larger voice to voters who, for whatever reason, can't make it to the caucuses. But to really understand the Texas process, you have to look at it as having a vote that's split 2/3-1/3. If you vote in the Primary, you've cast only 2/3 of your vote. If you want your full voice to be heard, you have to go back to the caucus to cast your other 1/3 of a vote.

A caucus does tend to reward die-hard party supporters more than a primary - and in Texas, this is very similar to the role of the "super delegates" at the national convention. If you want to be a Texas "super delegate," go to your precinct caucus and run to be a delegate to the county convention!