Experts: A black candidate could win

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Barack Obama may be the first black presidential candidate who doesn't have to worry much about his race.

"I don't believe I'll win or lose the presidency based on my race — I'll win or lose based on my vision for changing this country," the Illinois senator said in a statement Thursday.

Political experts and some voters say he may be right.

"You have to ask yourself, 'If not now, when?'" Gary Samson of Concord said in an interview this week at Portsmouth's Prescott Park. "He does offer a dramatic alternative to the current administration."

Samson said he's impressed with Obama's charisma and message of hope, and believes Obama would work to solve top national problems, such as ending the Iraq war, providing universal health care and strengthening the economy.

Kim Rochford of North Hampton said she also thinks the country is ready for a black president.

"I think it actually has nothing do with whether he's African-American, but the fact of whether he's just a competent candidate," she said. "I don't think the country is really as focused on a candidate's race or gender as much as people may think."

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The Rev. Arthur Hilson, a black pastor at the New Hope Baptist Church in Portsmouth, said he's pleased voters are more open to the idea of a black president.

He said he considers Obama "bi-racial," but added that he thinks black voters are less concerned about that than other segments of society may be.

"I'm optimistic about this young man," Hilson said.

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Hilary Shelton, a spokesman for the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People in Washington, D.C., said he believes voters are more comfortable with the idea of a black president because they've already elected many black candidates to important positions.

The nation currently has more black congressmen and congresswomen than ever before, he said.

The House has 42 and the Senate has one, Obama. He said blacks are 13 percent of the nation's population and are represented in 10 percent of the House and 1 percent of the Senate.

Blacks also have been elected to other important posts, Shelton said. For instance, Gov. Deval Patrick became Massachusetts' first black governor in 2006.

If Obama wins the nation's highest office, Shelton said, "It would be a major stride, and it would be a major achievement for our country."

He said Obama also has proven as a senator that he'd care about the most pressing issues that still face black communities, such as affirmative action, education, health care and equality.

The NAACP gave Obama's voting record an A grade, he said.

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