Sister Jesse

Howard Fineman at Newsweek is the latest to imagine that two black men fighting is somehow a good thing when Barack Obama is one of the two black men. Howard tells the famous story of how Bill Clinton created a spat with Jesse Jackson in order to make himself look mainstream.

In May 1992, Clinton used a Jackson-hosted forum on youth politics to criticize the cultural influence of rappers, particularly a strident and combative young woman who went by the name Sister Souljah.

The Clinton campaign didn't give Jackson a heads up, preferring to launch the criticism as a surprise and draw the reverend (always a controversial figure) into a defensive overreaction. It worked. Jackson attacked—which is precisely what the candidate wanted.

This is known as Clinton's Sister Souljah moment. All candidates long to have them - to set up a bogey man against which to contrast yourself favorably.

What better way to prove your mainstream bona fides with white conservative voters than to be criticized by Jackson? Or so the thinking went. Clinton was a Southerner, or course, but a Democrat, and to win certain states—this was before they were called "Red"—you had to show that you were not a traditional liberal Democrat, not someone stuck in the old ghetto of identify politics.

Barack's challenge in this election year is simply to prove himself a safe choice for the presidency - if he can do that, he captures the huge demand nationally for a flip over to the Democrats. But with 41% of voters concerned about his lack of experience, and with Pastors Wright and Pfleger causing legitimate concern over Barack's judgment and defining beliefs, Barack campaign has languished for four months. Adding a spat with another racially divisive Chicago preacher doesn't do much to change that.