If I remember, when he was on Oprah a few years ago and I had no idea who he was and she was telling him he should run for president some day he said he chose to be black.  Something about coming from a mixed family and the angst of not knowing where you fit in, that it was a relief to finally just be black.

LOL, but with my memory these days that might have been Michael Jackson on deciding to be white, who knows.

It keeps the cities from dominating the rural areas. With only the popular vote, one large "club" would have all the power, just by numbers, instead of the consensus of the entire country determining who's at the head of the office.

I have the misfortune of living in a state where one city represents my "voice" in the electoral college. This one voting district goes a certain party every time, and every single other district in the state votes the other way. The people who live in the city outnumber everyone else, so theirs is the only vote that counts.

I think most white-black mixed people (we have a name for them, mulatos) identify themselves more with blacks, maybe because of dominant facial features, like hair or nose.  It's curious, nevertheless.  I was told that mixed people in South Africa used to be discriminated by both sides during Apartheid.

It's true and still is, In much of Africa a lighter skin color leads to discrimination, especially in areas such as Somalia.

I believe that Obama has "chosen" to be black because in the current political atmosphere of the US being black is actually a leg-up.  The papers tout that history has been made by electing our first black president, but what about Hilary Clinton as the first woman president.  It caries along with it the challenges of fighting against racial oppression.  By aligning himself with black America he is able to capitalize on the underlying guilt felt by whites for the atrocities of slavery ("white guilt").  I just have a hard time buying it.