From The Seattle PI
By Dan Rather

Barack Obama entered a particular pantheon when his speeches began to generate such attendance and enthusiasm that they became known as “rallies.” It’s the pantheon that also includes Howard Dean, Gary Hart, George McGovern, Eugene McCarthy, Kennedys Bobby and John, and Adlai Stevenson — the notable generators of buzz and affection among the young and what some call the “chattering classes” of the Democratic Party.

Because these chattering classes include many media types, members of this pantheon often have a public profile disproportionate to rank-and-file Democratic support. Only three — Stevenson (twice), John Kennedy and McGovern — have secured the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama stands on the cusp of being the fourth.

Kennedy won the presidency in a squeaker; Stevenson and McGovern lost in landslides. Now Americans of all political persuasions wonder how the latest member of this group will fare in November.

We wonder because we don’t often get to see one of the pantheon run in the general election. And we wonder because Obama, should his anticipated nomination become a reality, will be a historic standard-bearer for his party.

We sometimes imagine we have a handle on the state of race’s significance to the American experience, but Obama’s candidacy presents an opportunity to put many of our assumptions to the test. The conclusions we might believe we can draw from Obama’s eventual victory or defeat will be neither pat nor infallible, but the questions raised in the next six months will help us to gain a better understanding of what race means in this country in the 21st century.

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