The opposition to President Obama's so-called Big Government policies is increasingly crystallizing along racial lines. At least it appears so, going by media portrayal and political interpretations on the left. The President still has a Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress to pass his controversial health-care reform legislation, which he must, not only as a fulfillment of his campaign pledge but also to prevent his young administration from becoming a lame duck presidency.

But the strategic mistake he made was not to anticipate the visceral opposition to his policies and how easily it would be to acquire and destroy the post-racial paradigm of his presidency. Had he anticipated it, he would not have sidelined Hillary Clinton but had her as his second in command. He would have had in Clinton a white face with proven ideological and policy credentials to take the fight to the right wing without it acquiring racial hues.

If Obama has to have a second term and any legislative legacy at the end of his presidency, he should take the burqa off Clinton (as Tina Brown put it). She alone has the stature and temerity in the Democratic Party to fight and win his battles.