Another thing to keep in mind is that Obama is running as the anti-establishment candidate, and as far as African-Americans as a traditionally Democratic constituency goes, they're about as establishment as it gets. What makes them nervous about Obama is that he isn't running his campaign as an African-American, and has little in common with the black political establishment. I'm not surprised his support from Jackson, Sharpton, et al. is tepid at best, because his focus on changing the conversation in Washington is a direct threat to their brand of establishment politics. They've worked hard to build their movement within the establishment, and don't want some young upstart who doesn't know the sacrifices and trial-by-fire they've been through to take that away from them.
