On the national political stage, race and ethnicity are playing surprising roles in the Democratic race for presidential nominee, eclipsing the parts played by gender and class.   The influence of race can be seen impacting the Democratic race in four ways.  The first two are rather obvious, while the latter two are counterintuitive until we examine them through the lens of ethnicity not race.

Hillary Clinton has white skin, Barack Obama has black skin.  One might predict that they would receive more support from those with the same color skin and this truth is borne out in poll after poll.  So much for the first two ways race impacts the race. 

Ethnicity trumps race in the two other factors.  Latinos, with the exception of those of Caribbean descent, consider themselves Euro-Americans.  In other words, they are hispanoamericanos or hispanic-americans because they are descended from Spaniards who colonized parts of America.  Ethnically, they feel closer to Angloamericanos or anglo-americans who descend from the English who colonized other parts of America.  This is reflected in the strong support Hillary Clinton is receiving from Latinos, helping her win critical states like Texas.   

And many commentators have wondered whether Barack Obama is black enough to win the black vote.  In this case, they are referring not to race, because Obama’s skin is undoubtedly several shades darker than white, but to Obama’s ethnicity.  Obama may be of African descent traced through his Kenyan lineage, but he is not ethnically African-American.  This aspect has had repercussions in the vote of the African-American community, with some polls suggesting that Obama’s racial affinity to African-Americans is not sufficient to convince them that he represents their ethnic interests.

It remains to be seen, whether race or ethnicity will be the tipping point of the Democratic race.  Interestingly, neither gender nor class is playing as significant a role as race and ethnicity. 

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