Race will not beat campaign: Obama

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - Democratic Senator Barack Obama, who hopes to become America's first black president, said Friday racial prejudice would not dash his hopes of victory in the fight for the Democratic nomination in the key state of Iowa.

"There is no doubt that race is always a factor in American society, there is no denying that, but I think we have made enormous progress," Obama said in an interview with Iowa public television.

"I have heard this before, I think it gives the voters too little credit. We are confident that we are going to do well."

Obama said he had heard whispers that Americans as a whole were not ready to vote for an African-American candidate before, when he was running for the Senate in Illinois.

"I am getting a fair hearing, and I will get a fair hearing," Obama said, adding that in his 2004 Senate race he had won among all sectors of the population.

He rejected the idea his race could be a problem in the overwhelmingly white midwestern state of Iowa, which holds its fabled caucuses, the crucial first nominating contest of the 2008 campaign, on January 3.

"You have people who are less concerned about race (than) 'is this somebody that is really fighting for me,'" Obama said.

Race remains an uncomfortable topic in US politics, and few analysts or candidates will refer to it openly, but the question of whether racial prejudice will harm Obama's hopes remains an undercurrent in the election fight.

Obama is locked in a tight fight in Iowa with national Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards for the party's nomination to contest the November 2008 presidential vote.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071110/pl_afp/usvote2008obamarace [link]