An Australian looks at the U.S. election

I just came across a fascinating look at the U.S. presidential contest in a publication I've not read before -- The Australian (here's a link).

To make sure his readers have sufficient background, writer Nick Bryant begins his story in the Camelot years of the Kennedy administration, where "the most senior black appointee was a genial newspaperman named Andrew Hatcher, who served as deputy press secretary."

For anyone who doesn't remember, or never knew, what those times were like, Bryant adds: "Quickly (Hatcher) became a figure of derision and ridicule from an overwhelmingly white Washington press corps, whose members considered the affairs of state too complex for the African-American mind. When Hatcher issued a press release with a careless typo -- it misspelled Tufts University -- there were calls for his resignation."

While much of the story focuses on Barack Obama and his place in history -- Bryant is clearly a fan of Obama as a public speaker if nothing else -- it also takes an unflinching look at what role race may play in the election:

How John McCain will deal with the question of Obama's race is one of the most intriguing questions of the general election. Certainly, he will be the beneficiary of the same wariness from blue-collar whites that kept alive Hillary Clinton's hopes during the primary season. But that is wholly different from saying he will attempt to accentuate those apprehensions. A man of deep honour, McCain might even prefer to lose the election than be swept into the White House on a wave of racial hysteria. For a start, he knows what it's like to be the victim of racist smear campaign. During the 2000 South Carolina primary, online whispers started by a professor at the right-wing Bob Jones University libellously claimed that McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter, Bridget, was in fact his black love child.

Bryant reminds readers that the only Democrats to win the White House in the past 40 years have been Southerners, and points out the obvious need for Obama to carry at least one southern state if he is going to win the election.

Top on his list of possibilities? Virginia -- the state that elected L. Douglas Wilder.