Nor has he railed about the decades of socioeconomic damage it's done to black communities. Nor about the young black males who've died in disproportionately high numbers in shootouts over drug turf.

No one expects Obama to wreck his White House chances by challenging the puritanical premises behind the drug war. But except for methamphetamine, which is ravaging many (white) communities in Illinois, Sen. Obama virtually ignores the issue of illegal drugs.

A search for the word "marijuana" on his official Web site, obama.senate.gov (which archives his Senate speeches), brings not one hit. Ditto for "cocaine." "Heroin" comes up three times -- in connection with Afghanistan and Burma.

Obama is not even in favor of legalizing medical marijuana. And he was the last potential president to promise he'd call off federal drug raids on medical marijuana clinics.

If his past is vetted by the media the way the Clintonistas are praying it will be, Obama's drug experiences may turn out to be not as innocent as he's portrayed. But for now it seems that -- like umpteen millions of his fellow law-breaking Americans -- he did his pot and coke and didn't get caught.

Too bad. If his life had been spoiled even a little by the evil drug war, he might have more sympathy for the 1.6 million Americans who get busted each year for nonviolent drug offenses.

Then, instead of merely being the most charismatic of three indistinguishable liberals competing to see who can use Big Government to "change" America the most, he could become a real American political hero -- by using his famed oratorical skills to end America's most senseless war.