“‘Sure it’s a gimmick,’ said damage-control specialist Eric Dezenhall, ‘but Obama’s gift is making gimmicks look visionary.

‘In fact, the whole post-racial routine is a gimmick,’ he went on. Dezenhall compared it to the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner that symbolized a premature Iraq war victory celebration for President George W. Bush.

‘Only it works better, largely because people want it to work; they like the whole theater of healing.'”