Is There More Race In America’s Politics Now Than Before Obama?

When former President Jimmy Carter says racism is an underlying factor in all attacks on Obama and his policies it’s safe to say he had no intention of boosting Allen West’s campaign for Congress in Florida’s Broward County. Carter’s opinion has provoked bumper stickers and t-shirt emblazoned with JIMMY CARTER - No Longer Our Worst President adding to the blaze.

But according to West, a retired Army colonel, Republican and a black man who is running for the second time against Democratic Rep. Ron Klein in Florida’s 22nd congressional district, that is exactly what has happened.

“Since (Democrats) have thrown out the race card, it has made me more appealing,” says West, one of a small but determined group of black Republicans running for seats in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives in 2010.

Williams wrote a strident response to Carter on his Web site last month, saying that “stigmatizing honest opposition as ‘racist’ appears to be a way of not answering legitimate questions about policy reform. I, for one, oppose the president’s health care plan because it will explode the deficit, allow further government intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship, and continue to insulate healthcare consumers from the true cost of their care.”

Eager to overturn the “conventional wisdom” that the GOP is mainly a white bread party that offers few opportunities for minorities, these black Republicans believe they can attract increasingly agitated conservatives, as well as independents, to make 2010 their year.

They also conceded in interviews that the injection of race — a familiar theme since Obama’s election last year — has given them a certain edge and authority when they speak out against the president’s agenda. Because they’re black, they say, they can lead the charge against Democratic policies without being called “racist.” In fact, they say, their skin color may make them more attractive candidates.

“A lot of people who don’t want to be part of Obama’s policies are being called racist,” West said. “Then they say, ‘Hey, this guy, Colonel West — he’s black and I support him.’”

“It’s made me more appealing,” West told FOXNews.com, “because it shows the contrast of our principles — how different we are even though we both have permanent tans.”

Ryan Frazier, a 31-year-old councilman from Colorado, is running for U.S Senate against Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. He, too, thinks his black skin will make it impossible to label him a racist because he opposes the president.

“I don’t think they will be able to use that argument against me or engage in those tactics against me — I certainly don’t hate myself,” Frazier said.

Michael Williams, the four-term Texas railroad commissioner who plans to run for the U.S Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson next year, says being black will help him, too.

“One of the things it allows me to do, “it allows me to speak very, very frankly about what I believe, and what I feel, and nobody is going to call me a racist. ” Williams said.

“They may try and call me a sell-out … but I’ve been doing this for 11 years and that certainly doesn’t bother me anymore.”

John Gizzi, political editor for the conservative Human Events magazine, said emerging “top tier” black Republicans like Williams and West “are the worst nightmare for Democrats,” because “they will be the ones who can go toe-to-toe with Barack Obama and the media will pay attention.

“The very fact that these candidates, who happen to be African-American, can address the issue (of health care) … is very, very significant,” Gizzi said. “People are going to listen because they will eliminate any racially incendiary issues that have entered into this debate.”