I don't get the relevance of saying he would not be such a superstar if he was just another white male.  Of course there's nothing compelling about some who is just another...anything.   He is unusually charismatic and self-confident.  Many people have remarked that he has always had a special way about him that gives you the impression of someone who is unusually comfortable in his own skin.  He is remarkably persuasive.  He has an unusual ability to bring people together, to make people who are diametically opposed to him philosophically feel that at least they will get a fair hearing with him.  These types of remarks are constantly heard from the people who knew him at Harvard, to the people he worked with in South Chicago, to lawyers and other law professors, to the Illinois Senators to the US Senators.  This is what sets him apart in addition to his writing and speaking ability and his intelligence.

So I think it is incorrect to assume he would be just another white guy if he possessed the same charisma but simply had a white father.  He would still be special. He would get the JFK label applied even more than he does now.  

But what is the point of this?  The fact is he is who he is.  He is not simply Black, he's mixed, and that's very important.  He epitomizes both the immigrant's American Dream and the Black Man's American Experience.  He is a child of the Civil Rights movement yet he has experienced first hand the lingering effects of racism.  He is an embodiment of exactly what we as Americans want to stand for when we proudly hold up the constitution and talk about the greatness of this country.  He has the type of resume we rarely get in a Presidential candidate - someone who has walked the hallowed halls of Harvard law school and the mean streets of South Chicago.  He has lived in the center of this country and on the fringes.  

So would he be the same guy if he wasn't the same guy? Isn't that what you are asking?  The label "superstar" or "rockstar" is really a perjorative intended to diminish the movement he has built as being somehow inauthentic or irrelevant.  It's possible he could pull the large crowds, and even possible he could poll well if it was just curiosity.  But there is no way he could have raised the type of money he has with the amount of contributors based solely on hype.  Obama is building a movement because he speaks directly to what is at the heart of the dissatisfaction in this country.  We are sick of the cynicism that has completely engulfed our politics and oozed into the mainstream of our culture.  We want change, real change, not the fake change offered up by the same old same old.   And most off all, we want to say to the world, and to ourselves, that this country and all of us as Americans stand for something good.  We have someone in Obama who is the perfect vehicle for that expression and at the same time is the most prophetic, intelligent, and potentially effective politician we have seen in a very long time.  That is an extremely powerful combination.

so was john edwards. each candidate distinguishes themselves with a background story. i mean, what is special about john edwards?

what is special about bill clinton? each one had an interesting story about where they get their essence from.

what whakkyliberal misses is that minority candidates are more crippled by race than are helped by race. when barack was an obscure state senator, who would've taught that he could raise money like a white guy with his accomplishments.

race hinders blacks more than it helps them and it is always insulting to hear white males suggest that every high profile black guy is benefiting from latent affirmative action.

barack is a self-made(unlike mrs. clinton for instance) pol. he had to run around like every one looking for small donations. he had to fight to get bills passed without high profile advisors. and he had to win the illionois primary not because of race but because of his own talents.

kerry was impressed with his magna cum laude harvard law credentials and his surprise win in the illinois primary, and tapped him for the DNC.

he kicked the ball out of the park with his self-written powerfull speech which clicked with most americans.

and yes, in 2002, he didn't need high profile advisors to write his nuanced prophetic anti-iraq invasion speech.

barack is self made and only benefiting from the same 'charisma' that propelled white candidates like bill clinton, JFK, Ronald Reagan, RFK.

if you can't give barack credit for his accomplishmenst then i wonder who...