"CLEVELAND'S NEW MULTI-RACIAL MAYOR": Mandatory reading at democracy guy.

Jackson personifies the truth that "race" is a political and social construct, not a biological one. If you take a kid whose dad is African-American and whose mom is Italian-American, plop him down in Cleveland and let American life take its course, what do you get? A "black candidate" for mayor.

We may well be watching the exit of the last "white" mayor of Cleveland. Can the "white" minority of the city get our collective head around this demographic fact? Judging from the poll results -- with over a third of "white" voters and nearly 40% of "West Side" voters choosing Jackson in the Channel 3 poll last week -- we're making some progress, Mike Dolan and his ilk notwithstanding.

Sixteen years ago Mike White was elected mayor by West Side voters who preferred him to George Forbes. For a brief moment, as an East Side politician with an energized West Side base, White had the chance to remake the conscious racial-political geography of the city. For whatever reason, he made no serious effort to do so, and the moment passed.

Having taken a very different path, Frank Jackson is about to arrive at that same moment of opportunity. The difference is, he will have gotten there far more deliberately... and he appears to be a far better man for the task.