Below is Keith Olbermann's special comment about Geraldine Ferraro's controversial statements about how Barack Obama has gotten to where he is because he is black:

Now, I do understand Olbermann's point, though I don't agree with it entirely. For one, the more talk there is about this episode, the worse it is for the Obama campaign. He has tried very hard not to make this contest about race, and every day he has to spend on this issue means he's not talking about the issues that have won him support.

But there is another point that my wife Tracy brought up: "Why do they call him black when he's half white?"

While Ferraro is wrong about Obama's "blackness" being his key for success, his racial heritage is a major part of who he is and why his campaign has done so well.

Does that sound contradictory?

Obama isn't winning over white voters in Wyoming, Idaho and Iowa because he's black. It's because he's half-white. What Obama's racial heritage has done is to bridge the gap between the races. Neither side sees him as threatening. They perceive him as someone who can fundamentally change the racial dynamics of this country, to get past all the old wounds, hatred and resentment.

And he does this without saying a word. It's not about promises to support the right policies. This is who he is. No one can accuse him of pandering in his efforts to end the racial divide, since he's got a foot on each side. This is why his message of hope and change have resonated so well with voters of all races.

Ferraro and the Clinton campaign don't seem to get this. They want to make this about who is the better victim, women or blacks. They want to turn Obama into the black candidate, and have been trying to do so for the entire campaign. It is a central part of their strategy.

This fact makes Ferraro's comments even more repulsive. What she is claiming is Obama's key to success is what the Clinton campaign knows is the secret to defeating him. This is what the "kitchen sink" is all about. It's the standard Democratic victimization strategy that has been a dismal failure for so long.

Obama's not a victim, and doesn't buy into the Clinton victimization crap. And he's going to have to fight to keep from being pulled into that swamp.