I knew there was trouble when columnist George Will described writer Shelby Steele as “America’s foremost black intellectual.” If Steele wasn’t a conservative, Will would not give him that crown but no need to go there right now. In his review of Steele’s new book A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win, Will gives the black conservative props for describing the loopy racial climate Obama navigates as he looks to be president of a country whose racial history is both text and subtext. However, Will thinks Steele does not comprehend an important aspect of Obama’s rise.

“Obama seems to understand America’s race fatigue, the unbearable boredom occasioned by today’s stale politics generally, and especially by the perfunctory theatrics of race.” Will writes.

This is the one sentence that did not make me want to kick the dog. As I said before, Obama plays the post-racial tune perfectly. This is just smart politicking because there is no way Obama would be a viable candidate if he spent his time on the stump talking about the country’s racist past. No percentages in that. Like Bill Clinton, Obama has stolen a page from Ronald Reagan and focuses on America’s promise and future. Sunny optimism is catnip to us voters; we just can’t resist it.