Obama’s latest flap about McCain’s intention to remind voters that he does not look like all the other presidents on the dollar bill is something he’s repeated a few times to audiences. A few weeks back I posted about Obama having to worry about having a grievance frame attached to him. Apparently the “dollar bill” thing is being framed in terms of grievance. Rassmussen found that 53% of voters thought that Obama’s dollar bill comment was racist. Obama has done a heroic job traversing the racial minefield in the campaign thus far, but he has to be wary of the road ahead. Especially as quotes from his book begin to appear out of context in 527 ads or as Jeremiah Wright makes his re-emergence onto the public stage.

As an ardent Obama supporter, I find it depressing that he seems to be tying himself up in knots rhetorically over issues of race. Having just read Dreams From my Father, I marvel at the depth and sophistication with which he reflects on his own identity and race in America more generally. Of course I’m a latte liberal whose supposed to be gushing over the book. How predictable!!!