Reports of Church Burnings Up Next?

Most polls show Democrats heading toward defeat in 2010. As President Obama himself implicitly acknowledges, the only way to stave off disaster is to re-energize the coalition that helped elected him in the first place

-- a coalition in which minorities play an important part.

At risk of being a cynic, I'm starting to wonder when the church burnings will start. Remember the "epidemic" (later debunked) of black church burnings that Bill Clinton exploited in 1996, in what was at least in part an effort to goose African American turnout for his reelection?

Or the terrible James Byrd outrage that the Democrats exploited in 2000 to try to tarnish George W. Bush?

Sad to say, there is a reason that we see these things in election years. They serve as a way for race-exploiters to instill a sense of urgency in groups that they fear might not otherwise make it to the polls.

Given the President's admitted efforts to step up turnout among his core constituencies, I'm inclined to believe we're going to start hearing about them again -- if not from The White House itself, then from some of its close allies.

Just a prediction, and one about which I hope I'm wrong. I'd like to think America has moved past not only racial hatred (first and foremost) but also efforts to exploit it for cheap political gain.