Until his pastor's most incendiary sound bites re-circulated on the web, Sen. Barack Obama had managed to be the "post-racial," "post-partisan" candidate to all America--an unimposing black buddy some white men never had, an attraction to women across racial and ethnic lines. But Rev. Jeremiah Wright's selected sermons suddenly threatened all that, just as racial divisiveness emanated from his Democratic rival's camp. Tuesday, Obama decided to respond by addressing race in America head on.

The...