Farrakhan's Pennsylvania Admirer

By Colbert I. King
Washington Post
Saturday, April 26, 2008

The old Irving Berlin tune "The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On)" captures the aftermath of Pennsylvania's Democratic primary -- with a twist. The contest is, indeed, over. But the tune that's slow in parting is more of a sour note than a sweet sound.

It's not that the outcome was disturbing. Hillary Clinton's double-digit victory was forecast weeks ago. She also achieved a key objective: raising doubts about Barack Obama's electability in November.

No, for me, the unpleasant tone that lingers is the exit poll in which 1 in 10 white Pennsylvania voters said a candidate's race mattered. Those voters went with Clinton by a proportion of 3 to 1.

Clinton's top strategist, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said something like that could happen.

In a February meeting with members of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board, Rendell said that some whites in his state "are probably not ready to vote for an African American candidate."

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