Are we free at last from the inexpressible tedium of the preoccupation with skin pigmentation?

George Will: Democratic Ironies, Republican Afflictions

Excerpt:

The election of an African American discomfits the Democratic Party. It practices identity politics, stressing the relevance of "race-conscious" policies, defending racial preferences in public hiring, contracting and education. But the election of Barack Obama is an American majority's self-emancipation: We are free at last from the inexpressible tedium of the preoccupation with skin pigmentation.

Comment: On the conservatives fixation on Sarah Palin in 2012:

These conservatives, smitten by a vice presidential choice based on chromosomes, seem eager to compete on the Democrats' terrain of identity politics, entering the "diversity" sweepstakes they have hitherto rightly deplored. We have seen this movie before. Immediately after the 1972 election, some conservatives laid down the law — the 1976 Republican nominee must be Vice President Spiro Agnew.

Final comment: As long as some continue to focus on the color of Barak's skin, racism is alive and well in America! It's the ideas! Not the skin color!