I read something tonight that shed a lot of light on the choice - whether it will resonate with you or not, I don't know, but I would suggest you read it, too.

Newsweek's cover story is "When Barry became Barack" - I kind of had to force myself to read it, and it is, in places, a little over-the-top in its adulation, but in the end, it was revealing.

My take?  Barack Obama still has no idea who he is - he wants to be something, be important, and rather than stick around in one stage of his life long enough to figure some things out, he kept moving on, moving up, looking for that thing that would make it all make sense.  

I'm not really interested in a president who is taking this step because it is the next stop on his journey to figuring out who he is - I want someone who knows, who hasn't run from the demons, but faced them, who hasn't invented and re-invented his/her persona to see if that's the one that is The One.  

I don't know - you and others may find other things in the article, see it as life-affirming that he wants to "find" himself.

To bring this more on-topic - I think that was part of the attraction to Wright.  "Barry" felt a need to know and embrace his black heritage, and I think Wright took him there in a way that no one else could.  I get that.  Maybe when you're looking for racial identity, you need someone who is on the far side of the spectrum - I don't know.

I think the reason Obama can't completely jettison Wright is because his own identity is bonded to him, and Obama is, deep down, that unsure of who he is - all by himself.