Scholar discusses Obama's chances

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Barack Obama was the center of attention as former Syracuse University professor Ronald Walters gave a lecture about the junior senator from Illinois' run for the presidency Wednesday night in the Maxwell Auditorium. \nWalters tied in black political history with Obama's potential candidacy. \n"It puts black politics in the twilight zone," Walters said of Obama's run. \nWalters, a distinguished scholar, is a former professor at SU. He has written more than a hundred articles and is the author of eight books. \nWalters spoke about how he thinks the candidate's stance on the war in Iraq will choose who the next president is, not his race. \n"Forget about race," he said. "If he's going, he's going on a deep emotional issue like this (war), like it has done historically. Iraq is the concept of our times." \nWalters continued the lecture speaking about the hype around the presidential election. He said Obama and fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, will be battling out the race well into 2008, even among minority voters. \n"I think the 2008 election is going to be difficult to know who is going to office," Walters said. "It's like the black community is split between Obama and the Clintons; it's like some of us have an allegiance to Bill Clinton, our first black president."\nWalters said some Americans may go to the poll ready to vote for Obama, get inside the booth and suffer a change of heart. \nAs of now, Walters said Hillary Clinton leads in a presidential election poll, with 41 percent of potential votes. Obama is in second place with 17 percent. \nWalters stated there is too much hype and entertainment involved in his election, and Obama needs to separate from that. \n"Race is going to be raised in this campaign whether he wants it to or not," he said. "Everything is still about race. Think of the Super Bowl with the two black coaches. They wanted to play the game, and everyone kept talking about their race." \nNo matter what the outcome, Walters said Obama's candidacy can still mark an important time in history. The way people react to his decision to run or not will be remembered for some time. \n"We're undergoing a very interesting period in American history with Barack Obama - Obama Mania," Walters said.