Is this guy for real?

Depending on what happens tonight, this year's Democratic National Convention may be remembered most for having introduced Barack Obama to the national stage.

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The 42-year-old U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois appears to be every bit as good as his gushing press: eminently articulate, telegenic and centrist-sounding.

He is poised to be the only black man in the U.S. Senate - and perhaps the second coming of Bill Clinton, at least when it comes to charm and potential crossover appeal.

But, significantly, he is also one of the first, if not the first, black Democrat who seems moderate enough to appeal to a wide base of voters.

That's an amazing fact, when you think about it: that the Democratic Party, which has had a near-monopoly on the black vote, has only now produced a black star on the national stage that has the potential for any great amount of political appeal. Until now, the best the party could do was Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party long ago produced the likes of Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.

Of course, even if Obama is for real, he still must appeal to a Democratic base that is far out of step with mainstream America. Obama, by his own self-deprecating account, is a lanky creature. But whether he can keep one foot in the left-leaning Democratic base and still step to the middle enough to become a durable national figure remains to be seen.

--From the Thursday, July 29, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle