Politics | Barack Obama Obama Success Rewrites the Rules on Race In the fact of Barack's campaign, some already see a victory By Zach Samalin Posted Dec 29, 2007 9:30 AM CST Copied Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a campaign event Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007, in Mason City, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (Associated Press) With only three black US Senators and two black governors elected since Reconstruction, and the vast majority of black politicians representing predominately black communities, veteran race watchers anticipated another decade before a candidate of color could be a top contender for the Oval Office. But that was before Obama. The Washington Post examines how Barack's unprecedented crossover success has changed thinking among black political leaders. Jesse Jackson, who carried 13 primaries and caucuses when he ran in 1988, says Obama's success reveals more about white Americans than black: "We have not changed, African Americans. White America is changing, in many ways. There is, in a real sense today, a new generation of possibilities." Read These Next New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. A man has been deported for kicking an airport customs beagle. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Actor Sam Rockwell gets residuals from movie he wasn't in. Report an error