Had the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill been fit and well-groomed, he would have looked a lot like U.S. Rep. John Murtha, the 17-term Democrat from Johnstown.

Still vigorous at 76, Mr. Murtha met with the editorial board of the Post-Gazette earlier this week. Because the former Marine refuses to mince words or engage in the tactful evasions of lesser politicians, he was characteristically blunt about the Democratic presidential nominee's chances of winning the state.

Mr. Murtha believes Sen. Barack Obama will win Pennsylvania, but by a closer margin than what the polls indicate thanks to lingering racial attitudes -- especially on this end of the state.

"There's no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area," Mr. Murtha said to us. "The older population is more hesitant [to vote for a black Democrat]."

Mr. Murtha wasn't trying to be provocative. He was answering the question as honestly as he could. It did echo Gov. Ed Rendell's remark to the editorial board during the primary campaign -- that in Pennsylvania, "some whites are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate." But Mr. Murtha's quip did not carry a partisan taint.

I was originally annoyed with Mr. Rendell because his glib dismissal of Mr. Obama's chances of beating Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania seemed to sell the state's white ethnic voters short at a time when other majority white states were embracing him.

Then came the April primary in which Mrs. Clinton trounced Mr. Obama by a wider margin than even Mr. Rendell predicted.

Besides vindicating the governor, Mrs. Clinton's performance shattered every utopian conceit I ever had of a post-racial Keystone State. It also gave birth to the narrative that Mr. Obama had yet to seal the deal with white working class voters.

Yesterday, Jack Murtha issued a clarification of his comment: "While we cannot deny that race is a factor in this election, I believe we've been able to look beyond race these past few months, and that voters today are concerned with the policy differences of our two candidates and their vision for the future of our great country.

"Sen. Obama has shown sound judgment and has presented us with a change from the failed policies of George Bush and John McCain. I believe he will win both Pennsylvania and the White House."

There was never any doubt in our minds what Jack Murtha meant the first time, though it could have been phrased a bit more elegantly for public consumption.

Still, it will be our loss if he's less candid the next time. We would hate for him to think that we couldn't handle the truth, whatever it is.

Someday, a psychology student is going to earn a Ph.D. deconstructing the Rev. Jesse Jackson's resentment of Mr. Obama and why it frequently manifests itself in remarks that undermine his historic campaign for the White House.

On Tuesday, a New York Post columnist published comments Rev. Jackson allegedly made to him while attending an international conference in France.

With less than a month until Election Day, it looks like Jesse decided it would be a good time to shake Mr. Obama's tree big time.

Amir Taheri, a noted neoconservative, wrote that "Jackson believes that, although 'Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades' remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House.'"

Faster than you could say "We lost Dade County to McCain," the Obama campaign issued a statement reminding us that Barack and Jesse haven't exactly been homeboys: "Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama's views on Israel and foreign policy."

For his part, Rev. Jackson accused Mr. Taheri of "selectively imposing his own point of view and distorting mine." Whatever. I suspect they'll have to invent a new psychological term to describe the kind of sabotage Jesse has engaged in where Mr. Obama is concerned.

Meanwhile, Jesse may have to wait for the next black president's inauguration before he's fist-bumping anyone at the White House.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the more we learn about Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, the less we're going to like him. After all the love that the Toledo everyman got during Wednesday's Obama-McCain debate, it will be a shame if his 15 minutes of fame turns out to be 14 minutes too long.