Obama's Destiny -- Is He Al Smith or JFK?

John Judis asks an interesting question in The New Republic: Is Obama Al Smith or John F. Kennedy?

"[P]undits will mostly gauge Barack Obama's prospects ... by looking at states he can win or constituencies he can carry," Judis writes.

"He represents a social group that was once on the margins of American politics, but now aspires to put one of its own in the highest office. This has happened once before in U.S politics: when American Catholics saw one of their own nominated to be president."

The trailblazer to whom Judis refers, however, is not John F. Kennedy in 1960. It's Al Smith in 1928.

Smith became the first Catholic to be nominated for president -- in a nation that was created by mostly Protestants who came to America in part to get away from the grip of Rome. There was a deep religious divide in America when Smith was nominated, and he lost to Herbert Hoover.

How much of a role did religion play in Smith's loss? I don't know. But no more Catholics were nominated for president until John F. Kennedy was nominated 32 years later.

It's been 80 years since Smith's groundbreaking nomination. It was symbolic at the time, but it paved the way for better things to come.

"Kennedy's success removed a political stigma from Catholics," says Judis, "to the extent that it is no longer a serious question whether a Catholic can win the presidency, and a Catholic candidate like John Kerry is seen (except by his most fanatical co-religionists) as first and foremost an American politician rather than a representative of his faith."

As the first black nominee, Obama's ultimate role in the history books may be the same as Smith's -- or maybe he will bypass that and, like Kennedy, be elected.

Certainly, I believe it won't take eight decades before a black candidate is regarded as "first and foremost an American politician" rather than a "representative" of his -- or her -- race.

Whatever the outcome in November, the ground has been broken.

Likewise, the ground has been broken for women, too.

Obama will be the nominee. But he and his staff should encourage Hillary Clinton to retain her delegates in Denver. She has worked long and hard and should not be denied her historic role as the runnerup.

It's symbolic, but it will help pave the way for the next woman who seeks the nomination.

Obama has nothing to lose by being gracious, and it could go a long way toward mending Democratic fences.