Real life has kept me from my normal blogging rounds; apologies. I'll have something fairly juicy (I hope) later today. For now, let me simply ask this question: Has the ascent of Barack Obama worsened racial tensions in this country?

Consider this story, which has received insufficient attention. In North Carolina, Michael Lawson -- one of the presidents of the NC Democratic Party’s African-American Caucus (NCDPAAC) -- announced that black people should vote for Obama but not for any down-ticket white candidates.

Imagine the outcry if any white political figure made such a statement.

To be fair, the comment aroused indignation and condemnation within that state's black community. The remark came in the middle of a harsh internecine squabble within the caucus, the details of which are too complex to relate here.

Still -- what have we come to? I think that this sort of language was made possible by the Obama campaign's deliberate strategy of portraying the Clintons as racist.