State of Obama's Dream

In the Nevada presidential caucuses, Hillary Clinton garnered 64 percent of the Latino vote; Barack Obama received 26 percent. Well, so much for Obama’s dream of a black-brown coalition.

Obama was packaged as a "legitimate" presidential candidate who "transcends" race. His message of "hope" and "change" would bridge the nation's racial divide in a single election. Votes for Obama would set white America free.

Clearly, it's time for Obama to retool his message about "bringing the country together." With losses in New Hampshire and Nevada, he has yet to bring rank-and-file white Democrats together.

As for the independents who voted for Obama in the Iowa caucuses, that is so two weeks ago.

In Nevada, Obama received 83 percent of the black vote. Polls show that African Americans are fueling his lead in South Carolina. So as the campaign shifts to the South and West, Obama has been transformed from a "presidential candidate who happens to be black" to a "black presidential candidate," albeit one with a Harvard law degree.

But one doesn't have to be a Harvard lawyer to know that Obama's smackdown of Bill Clinton for his "advocacy on behalf of his wife" is ill-advised. Why shouldn't Bill defend Hillary? She stood by Bill during the Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky messes, and assorted "bimbo eruptions."

Obama has raised more money than any black presidential candidate in history, but as the Notorious B.I.G. famously observed, "more money, more problems."