And the Democrat Party has always been the home of racism in America.

For all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces.

They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.

The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight.

Now please remember – these folks are not visiting or calling random citizens. Campaigns today have gotten sophisticated enough that they try are only going to call or knock on the door of registered members of their party – to do otherwise is a waste of time. So when we hear about the encounters with racism, this is what you are getting from Democrats – ideas akin to what you would have heard when Senator Robert Byrd was still recruiting for the Klan. Maybe Obama can pick him for Vice President – that will wrap up both West Virginia and the DemoKluxer vote!

On the other hand, if they were calling Republican voters, they would have not gotten such a response. After all, the GOP was founded upon and has always supported the equality of all Americans, regardless of race. That commitment hasn’t changed.

UPDATE: Looks like Ed Morrissey drew the same conclusion I did.

Who were these volunteers contacting? Fellow Democrats. They wanted to mobilize the registered Democrats to get them to vote in the closed primary, and received very ugly responses for their trouble.