No party at my crib.

There are a few reasons why I’m not jumping up and down today about Obama and the Democratic nomination. First, the Clintons are formidable and crafty - I don’t care if she concedes tonight or not, the convention hasn’t happened yet. She doesn’t strike me as a line-tow-er, and I expect fireworks in August. In addition, provided she doesn’t pull a rabbit out of the donkey’s posterior at the convention, Clinton will be seen, in retrospect, as easy in comparison to McCain. Republicans. go. hard. The general election will be a tough one. Obama’s got problems with overt and covert racism, class warfare, character issues, and a perception that he is not detailed and knowledgable enough for the job. He will have to overcome these issues. And, I hope they step up his and his family’s security - right NOW.

One more thing: moments like these remind me of when they let Mychal Bell free on bail in Jena, or when OJ Simpson beat his case. Ain’t no check coming to black folks’ mailboxes just ’cause a black man isn’t getting shat on today. Having a black presidential nominee will be cute for the record books, but ultimately useless if he doesn’t win in the general. In fact, having a black president is useless if our people still get ignored after the election, like other presidents have been known to do. We hope things will be different because of who Obama tells us he is… but we won’t really know unless and until he wins the election and either gives us his ear or shows us the door. He can’t be a black president for black people only - in order to make it to the White House, he has to be an American president for all Americans, and he knows it. I just hope he doesn’t try so hard for the latter that black concerns get pushed to the side to preserve his claim that he’s not biased.

Happy as I am at the possibilities involved, I will not be content just to see Obama get the nomination. I require more.