Race and the Presidential Election

What a backslide. In the thick of one of the most exciting, boundary-breaking presidential campaigns in history, with a woman and an African-American out front in the Democratic Party, suddenly it sounds like a junior race war out there.

Candidates and surrogates are lobbing taunts and jibes. Bull Connor and LBJ are back from the pages of time.

Obama seemed to transcend race. Clinton seemed like the last one to play the card. But, ready or not, here we are.

This hour, On Point: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the American people — and race in the '08 campaign.Guests:

Randall Kennedy, professor of law at Harvard University and author of the new book "Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal."

Laura Washington, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and senior editor at In These Times.

David Greenberg, professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University and author of "Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image," he is at work on a history of spin in 20th-century presidential politics.