Dumb Political Observation of the Day

There's a new front page article over at The Politico that examines various potentially controversial things Senator Jim Webb has said or written in the past about the Southern Confederacy. For instance, in a 1990 speech in front of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, Webb said:

Most Southern soldiers viewed the driving issue to be sovereignty rather than slavery. Love of the Union was palpably stronger in the South than in the North before the war — just as overt patriotism is today — but it was tempered by a strong belief that state sovereignty existed prior to the Constitution and that it had never been surrendered.

The author then concludes:

There’s nothing scandalous in the paper trail, nothing that on its face would disqualify Webb from consideration for national office. Yet it veers into perilous waters since the slightest sign of support or statement of understanding of the Confederate cause has the potential to alienate African-Americans who are acutely sensitive to the topic.
Ron Walters, director of the African American Leadership Center at the University of Maryland and a professor of political science there, said Webb’s past writings and comments on the Confederacy could dampen enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket, should he appear on it.

Really? Look, not to trivialize the importance of the topic, but does anyone actually believe that Obama runs any risk of "alienating African-Americans" or "dampening enthusiasm" within the African-American community if he chooses Webb as his running mate? Putting aside for a moment the fact that, as the article acknowledges, Webb received 85% of the African-American vote in his Senate race in 2006, does anyone actually think that Obama is going to have a hard time generating enthusiasm among African-American voters?

Obama has a number of legitimate things to worry about as we head toward the general election. This is not one of them.