Obama Confronts Race Question In Presidential Vote

Barack Obama on Sunday rejected suggestions that prejudice could prevent his winning the US presidency in November, as Democrats mulled whether racial bias makes Hillary Clinton the better Democratic candidate.

With last week's Pennsylvania primary showing party voters riven along racial lines, African-American Senator Obama fended off questions about his viability in the contest during a Fox News interview.

"I don't think that race is going to be a barrier in the general election," Obama said.
"Look, is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that. Is that going to be the determining factor in a general election? No. Because I'm absolutely confident that the American people, what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems."

But an increasing focus on the demographics of the tight Clinton-Obama fight has Democratic party leaders, and the all-important superdelegates who will likely decide the nominee, studying whether American racial bias would give Republican John McCain an insurmountable edge over Obama.

In the Pennsylvania primary, Clinton captured 63 percent of the white vote, while Obama gained 90 percent of the much smaller black vote.

In exit polls 18 percent of Democratic voters in the eastern state said race influenced their decision, with 73 percent saying they would back Obama in a general election versus 82 percent for Clinton.

Read more: AFP