PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR ED RENDELL spoke the unspeakable the other day in a private session with members of the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He said that some people -- he didn't say WHO -- would not vote for Barack Obama because -- GASP! -- he's black.

Will someone alert the media, for crying out loud.

This actually made news. People seem shocked, SHOCKED, that Rendell would speak such, such, kes ca say? duh, no shit, who don't know that, common sense, truth. I wonder if Rendell went out on a limb and said that some black people might vote for Obama because he is black.

Oh, my God, there I've gone and done it. I've brought race into this election.

Will everyone please grow up. Saying that some white people might not vote for Obama because he is black is like saying some Republicans won't vote for a Democrat. Are we supposed to act surprised? Do Republicans vote for Democratic candidates? Yes. Do Democrats vote for Republicans? Yes. But is that the way to bet on an election?

Rendell -- who got into trouble in 2004 while chairman of the Democratic National Committeee for suggesting that some people might not vote for a Jewish vice president -- got into trouble for that despite being Jewish himself. He also told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he thought some voters wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton because she was a woman. (Don't stand next to Fast Eddie in a lightning storm!) According to the radio report from NPR's WHYY-FM, the Post-Gazette columnist who wrote about Rendell's remark about people not voting for Obama because he's black didn't mention Rendell's remark about people not voting for Clinton because she's a woman because the columnist wasn't surprised by that.

Doh!!!