Do you think being an African American hurt Barak Obama's chance to be the Democratic nominee for President? Or to be elected President? To answer my own ques

Do you think being an African American hurt Barak Obama's chance to be the Democratic nominee for President? Or to be elected President? To answer my own question - it's complicated; it did hurt him in some regards but it helped him too. There were a lot of people in the primary and general election who wanted to know they weren't prejudiced and voted for him at least in part for that reason. This wasn't legal affirmative action. It was something else. I don't know if I'd call it an "unfair right" but for the right person in the right circumstance it can be an advantage. Does it out weigh all the disadvantages? Probably not.