Buchanan is the past. Obama is the future.

There are now more people in America who are committed to the future scenario that Matthews described for his kids, than are committed to the separatist scenario we all know Buchanan believes in. Buchanan's supporters are dying off. Obama's are coming into their own.

I'm in the generation right behind Buchanan's and right before Obama's.

Hi Delma,

I take your point which is very reasonable. But consider this....Buchanan is not arguing that racism is not a strong factor in American history. Black Americans voting for Obama is also not unreasonable, as I understand his argument. He is simply saying that as white, working class citizens are accused of race criteria voting in W. Virginia, then the same must be acknowledged for black voters in Mississippi. His other point that Obama would not be doing as well if he were white, also has merit. Compare his experience and gravitas to Biden or Dodd, and it is tough to conclude that it is comparable. Even if you factor in his very strong life experiences and pre-Senate achievements, they don't equal other candidates. Don't get me wrong. I really like Obama. I am symbiotic with his world view and values. He is a wonderful advocate for those values (though I wish he was a bit more partisan). But his color set him apart and helped energize the Democratic left behind him, as Buchanan notes. Pat Buchanan, who wrote such a good book about the negative qualities of the neocons, is labeled anti-Semetic when he criticizes Israel and the Jewish lobby. And he is called a racist (not by you) when he observes the existence of overwhelming black support of Obama. He seems to be just pointing out reality. Parenthetically, if black voters get energized as they seem to be at least now for Obama, it puts a bunch of Southern House seats in play. Those are my thoughts Delma. I look so forward to your response

kenneth,
come on...as the lady columnist said, the black vote is not large enough to sustain barak obama. and lets not forget that every black person doesn't vote the same way. buchanan is playing n2 white americas fears of people of color (poc). whites statistically tend to think there are more poc's in the US than there actually are.
buchanan's point is NOT reasonable, because his argument for equal treatment fails to recognize some very strong realities. to go 300+ years with only white men in office, and then to suggest that in the midst of all of this violence against blacks by the state (ie. philly PD, NYPD, and LAPD to name a few) that it is some how adventagious to be black in america, is both short sighted and ignorant. racist? not neccesarily...just ignorant (notice he was uncomfortable with chris's last question-he had to refer to king to get out of it). Black america did not initially support obama when he announced. there were too many people supporting billary, because they were convinced that a black man could not gain white votes. once obama won iowa, i think a lot of people (poc particularly) began to take him seriously. race does matter, both ways. I think the focus is on white america more, because white america has a larger impact. just do the math and its common sense. im a racial justice facilitator and i look at these numbers all day everyday. whites still compose the vast majority of the US population. white america still owns every major institution in the US. so...what white america does, matters more to the outcome of this election. SIMPLE. if every nigga in the US voted for obama, and no one else, guess what, he's still not president. if every cracka in america voted for billary, and no one else, guess what, she's president...big difference.

What do they say "If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck" Pat Buchanan is a duck

As much as I deplore Pat Buchanan's tendency to constantly interrupt, and his low opinion of other woman panelists, his political insights tend to be illuminating. Race is still a serious issue in our society, and his point is not in any way unreasonable. For instance, Buchanan is often the only person making a reasoned argument in defense of Hillary Clinton's still staying in the race. He stands alone against Matthews and Olberman who never have anything positive to say about Hillary, and cast anything she does in the worse possible light. It isn't racist to discuss race, and to place white voters and black voters under the same lens for analysis. Matthew's vague, feel-good, statement makes no substantive analytical contribution. Buchanan is a grounded, real politik type guy. His perspective should be thoughtfully considered, and not dismissed as racist, which it most certainly is not.