Endorsement Redux

Chicago Tribune endorsed Barack Obama ... again.

At times, the historic contest between the first viable female presidential candidate and the first viable African-American has threatened to devolve into just another ugly race between ordinary pols whose positions on the issues are largely the same. But in recent weeks, Obama's personal and political mettle have been sorely tested— and have been proven.

This seems to me to be the most salient point made in the new endorsement.

But Wright's rants only escalated. Obama was forced to publicly denounce the man who presided at his wedding, baptized his daughters and supplied the title for his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

By putting him in this difficult position, Wright may have unwittingly done Obama a favor. Moved to passionate restatement of his beliefs, Obama reminded a lot of people of what they found so appealing in him in the first place.

Its about integrity, stupid.