ON EVE OF KING HOLIDAY, RACE DOMINATES
CAMPAIGN - ATLANTA — As he stood at the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church here,
addressing worshipers at the former congregation of the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Senator Barack Obama was doing something Sunday that
he has rarely done in his months of campaigning for the presidency.For nearly a year, as the fight for the Democratic presidential
nomination wound through Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr. Obama has strived
to run a race-neutral
campaign. Yet this week, as the
campaign converges on South Carolina, a new test is at hand for Mr.
Obama: Can he draw significant support from African-Americans while
maintaining the appeal of a candidate who seeks to transcend race?
On the eve of the national holiday celebrating Dr. King, as Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York was delivering her own appeal to
black
voters at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, Mr. Obama reprised
a call once delivered by the civil rights leader: “Unity is the great
need of the hour.” He presented his candidacy as an opportunity to
build on the ideals that began four decades ago here in Atlanta’s Sweet
Auburn neighborhood. Democratic strategists believe that Mr. Edwards, of
North Carolina, draws significant support from white voters and could
erode some of Mrs. Clinton’s backing, while polls show that Mr. Obama
has increased his standing from a wide majority of black voters.
A victory in South Carolina is crucial for Mr. Obama.
While polls show that Mr. Obama has an advantage, Mrs. Clinton and
former President Bill Clinton are aggressively campaigning across the
state this week, with Mr. Clinton focusing heavily on black voters.
In an interview on ABC News on Sunday, Mr. Obama suggested that he
intended to “directly confront Bill Clinton when he’s making statements
that are not factually accurate.”
A spokesman for the Clinton campaign, Phil Singer, called the former
president “a huge asset to our campaign” who “will continue talking to
the American people to press the case for Senator Clinton.”
Before flying to South Carolina on Sunday, Mr. Obama’s appearance at
Ebenezer Baptist in Atlanta offered a glimpse into the next phase of
the campaign, which almost certainly is shaping up to be a protracted
state-by-state fight. Each of us carries with us the task of changing our
hearts and minds.”
For Mr. Obama, the appearance at Ebenezer Baptist marked a rare time
that a service at a predominantly black church has been included on his
campaign schedule.It was the beginning of a transition in his strategy, as the primary
moves to more diverse states, aides say, and he brings to the fore his
effort to appeal to black voters while working to reassure some
skeptics of his electability.
In doing so, Mr. Obama told his audience a story of a young campaign
aide in South Carolina named Ashley Baia. He prefaced the story by
pointing out that she is white, and because of her belief in Mr. Obama,
black voters are signing on. He highlighted one man who was drawn
toward his campaign.
“By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white
girl and that old black man, that’s not enough to change a country,”
Mr. Obama said. “But it is where we begin.”