On the black vote split between Obama and Clinton...

It is indeed a good thing, that Democratic black voters have to make hard choice on which candidate to vote for.

One thing is for sure, I seriously doubt if the national poll on the black vote is going to give us a real measure of whom they're going to pick. To say the least, the poll result could probably be even more off-the-mark than the New Hampshire primary vote (that Clinton subsequently won by narrow margin, albeit running national poll showed her to be significantly lagging behind Obama in NH by as much as 23%).

If at all, my bet is, most black voters are unlikely to speak their mind freely in public about their preference and their allegiance to their associations that might have endorsed the other candidate. After all these years, when blacks have no one of their own heritage to vote for, would pick white candidate who can deliver comparatively better care and results to them. Bill Clinton has succeeded hugely in this respect.

Now, they have a choice of voting for one of their own, with a clean slate that attracts complaints from certain quarters that he's "not black enough," what could the black voters really rely on, except the skin color? Afterall, Obama comes from a very different background than most black voters. While he can make all the fancy claims that he wants, can we be sure that he can deliver? The money is on it, that he'll probably lean more on the non-black side, in order not to alienating the non-black majority.

Hilary Clinton would not have this baggage of being black or not black. Continuing on with the Bill Clinton policy, Hilary would have little problem to get the results, if she has the will; and she has shown that she has backbone. If I were black, I'll go for concrete results (Clinton), than fancy words (Obama).

PS: And of course, John Edwards would not quit the stage. But he's more of a postscript now; so, it doesn't really matter anymore.