What if it was Hillary Clinton vs. Barry Dunham?

"I'm white. I'm entitled. And a black man is stealing my show!"

Those were the words of noted Hillary Clinton impersonator Michael Pfleger, aka Father Michael Pfleger, the pastor of a South Side Chicago church.

During the Sunday morning homily Father Pfleger didn't don a pastel pantsuit as Mrs. Clinton seems to favor. And his performance wouldn't win any female impersonation contests. But the apelike impression of Hillary was intended only to make this point: she believes that she is entitled to be president because she's white and no black man should be swiping the election from her.

"I'm white. I'm entitled. And a black man is stealing my show!"

Pfleger's phony tirade, complete with fake weeping (a la Hillary's teary eyes) was presented at Obama's church in Chicago. You know the one. Trinity United, where the Rev. Jeremiah Wright damned America.

After Pfleger's pulpit act made it onto YouTube, the usual reactions ensued. Obama was outraged. Clinton was outraged. Religious leaders were outraged. Democrats were outraged. Republicans were not outraged. Pfleger was apologetic.

But no one pointed out that he was factually wrong when he mocked Mrs. Clinton by putting these words in her mouth: "I'm white. I'm entitled. And a black man is stealing my show!"

Yes, she's white.

Yes, she probably feels a sense of entitlement after eight years in the White House, 30 years of supposed experience and what must feel like an eternity as Mrs. Bill.

But a black man is not stealing her show.

If Hillary/Pfleger had said "a half-black man is stealing my show!" that would have been correct.

Genetically, Mr. Obama is half-black and half-white. Because his father was from Kenya in Africa and his mother was from Kansas in America, Obama is the true definition of an African-American.

At some point in his life, he chose to identify himself as black. Barack even joked when was running for U.S. Senate that had he taken his mother's name he would be known as Barry Dunham instead of the more African name in honor of his father: Barack Hussein Obama.

So, if Obama is elected, he will become known as the nation's first black president. And that will be only half-correct. Scientifically, it will be totally wrong.

Sociologically and legally, however, another rule applies.

"If he has one drop of black blood in him, then he's black."

The "One Drop Rule" comes from the era of American slavery. It was strictly an economic justification for creating a larger, involuntary work force.

It then morphed into a legal concept known as the "one black ancestor rule." Some court opinions have referred to it as the "traceable amount rule."

The uniquely American tenet does not apply to any group other than American blacks, according to anthropologists who have studied it.

I noted in that original column that "if Barack Obama had been alive during America's first 100 years, he would have had only two options when filling out his official census form. Black or white. That was it."

The truth is, there was no correct category for Obama to check on a U.S. census form until the year 2000. The 2000 census form instructed people to "mark one or more races" that apply to them --and there were 63 choices for those with multiple roots.

During Illinois' U.S. Senate election in 2004, there were questions about whether Obama was "black enough" for a black electorate. He said at the time, "We always have a lot of issues about our identity and whether we're authentic enough. What's really important is for us to embrace the cultural uniqueness that we possess and the struggles that we've overcome."

For Barack Obama in 2008, the race struggle continues. And so, too, for many others.