To the comments that discredit the article for "bringing race into" the discussion, it's worth noting that:

1. the author is not white, nor lives in a place where white people are any sort of majority.

2. politics has largely been dominated by white people for much of America's history, so it's likely fair that these patterns were started and perpetuated by white people.

3. the author doesn't exempt non-white politicians from scrutiny (i.e. Obama doesn't get a pass).

4. it doesn't make his points any less valid, which is where the merit of this post lies.