Obama faces a new test in S.C. where he has to draw significant black support while maintaining the appeal of a candidate who seeks to transcend race.

From The New York Times:

As he stood at the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church here [in Atlanta], addressing worshipers at the former congregation of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Barack Obama was doing something Sunday that he has rarely done in his months of campaigning for the presidency.

He was appearing before a black audience, and he was speaking about race.

For nearly a year, as the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination wound through Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr. Obama has strived to run a race-neutral campaign. Yet this week, as the campaign converges on South Carolina, a new test is at hand for Mr. Obama: Can he draw significant support from African-Americans while maintaining the appeal of a candidate who seeks to transcend race?