Urban Perspectives: Obama's success taking this skeptic by surprise

My theme is Barack Obama, and how he is challenging skepticism - and not just my own.

One year ago, if you had said to me an African American man would be in serious contention to receive the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States of America, I would have questioned both your sobriety and your mental stability.

If someone had offered me the right odds a year ago, I would have bet the house that an African American could not win his party's presidential nomination. If I'd made that wager, I would now be among those in America who are facing foreclosure.

My skepticism - and again, I'm far from alone in feeling it - derives from my belief that U.S. political culture, as retired Harvard University political science professor Martin Kilson would often say, "has not reached the political or social maturation" to elect a black man president of the United States. But if that is the case, how did Barack Obama, the U.S. senator from Illinois - now in a two-person race with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - become the front-runner in the Democratic Party's nomination process, poised to defeat the expected Republican candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, in the November general election?

As of this writing, Obama seems to have garnered more delegates than Clinton (estimates vary) and has won 24 state contests, both primaries and caucuses. That includes a string of 11 consecutive victories, even in states where the black population percentage is barely in single digits. With his big wins recently in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Obama now clearly has momentum over Clinton.

Stressing the themes of change and rejection of the political status quo, Obama's campaign is as strong a bottom-up movement as I have ever seen. Initially, he was far from the party's favored candidate - his support has come directly from unexpectedly enthusiastic voter support. That's something I haven't seen before, and that above all questions my skepticism. I speak from the perspective of a journalist who produced a PBS news show for six years; interviewed candidates on all sides, of all backgrounds, genders, and ideologies; and attended and reported on five national political party conventions, both Republican and Democratic.

Obama often is mentioned in the same breath as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, but the comparison is not apt. Jackson's efforts, while spirited and exciting, never were intended - or expected - to end in victories. Rather, they were aimed at influencing his party's platform and the eventual nominee's political priorities.

It's different this time; Obama is running to win. And he is showing tenacity and style in his battles with Clinton. So far, Obama has shown he can attract voter support that transcends gender, race and party affiliation. I would argue that it has the potential to become a political and cultural revolution. I've interviewed dozens of people - some of whom are skeptical like me - including political operatives, professors and a college president. All are intrigued by the possibilities Obama represents. Most significant, he has gotten the support of young voters, many of whom have never voted before, and nearly all of whom have a different perception and experience than those of us who were young in the last century. The youth turnout has been decisive for Obama in many states; he won the youth vote in 19 of 22 states on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Exit polls taken after the Wisconsin primary showed Obama got the majority of the independent voters. Independent voters there can vote in the primary and can register at the polling place on the same day. This is not the case in the Keystone State.

Pennsylvanians have until March 24 to register to vote in the April 22 primary. Unlike in other states, a voter must be registered with a specific party cast a ballot.

When you consider that Obama has shown increasing money-raising prowess - in January he raised more money than any of the other candidates - from donors who contribute small amounts and do not exceed the federal limit of $2,300, it becomes clear that his campaign is truly original, one that is not being dictated by those who have all of the money and power.

If he wins the Democratic nomination, skeptics like me, who felt that W.E.B. DuBois' assertion that "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line" would hold true in the 21st, will have to rethink that proposition. If the senator from Illinois becomes President Obama of the United States, it can be argued that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of a day in which a person will be judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin is on its way to being fulfilled.

I've been registered as an independent voter for 20 years. But now, I am going to change my registration to Democratic, so that I can participate in a movement with the potential to change this nation in a profound way.