I don’t profess to know who is going to win the Pennsylvania Primary. That’s still a mirage some five weeks off in the distance.

I do know that we are all winners because of something the happened in the campaign yesterday.

Sen. Barack Obama, who is fighting tooth and nail for the Democratic nomination with Sen. Hillary Clinton, came to Philadelphia and delivered a speech at the National Constitution Center.

Obama talked about race. Openly. Passionately. In stark, black and white terms.

It’s a discussion this state, this nation, direly needs. It is the elephant in the room. Even in the party whose mascot is the donkey. It’s the GOP, sitting by and smiling with their candidate, Sen. John McCain, primed and ready to go, that claims the elephant.

Race transcends all that. It goes beyond party affiliation, beyond geography and cultural borders.

It forms the too-often unspoken backdrop to our society.

That’s why we bannered it all over the front page of our print edition today, under the headline, “A Question of Black and White.”

The Democrats are poised to make history, regardless who emerges as their nominee. Obama is an African-American. Clinton is a white woman. No black person, just as no woman, has ever led the ticket for one of the major parties.

There are those who believe that race or gender should play no part in this campaign. That it should be decided solely on the issues.

They live in a different world than I do. And probably a different one than Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. A few weeks ago, he stated there likely were some Pennsylvanians who were not ready to vote for a black man for president. It pulled back the covers just a sliver on our ugly secret: Talking about race.

Former Democratic congresswoman and vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro then threw a little gas on the fire with her unfortunate comments about Obama’s race and its role in putting him in the position as the Democratic front-runner.

Then this week, comments made by Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., surfaced and turned the smoldering embers of race into a conflagration.

Obama repudiated Wright’s comments last week. He did so again yesterday in his speech in Philadelphia, condemning them as divisive. But he declined to disown the minister.

I’m pretty sure Obama would rather not be in the position he was in yesterday. I’m glad he was.

I’m glad he moved beyond the Wright controversy, to talk plainly and clearly about race and the role it plays in our society.

I think it’s a discussion we desperately need to have. I’m sure there are those who disagree with me, who simply will not look past the comments made by Wright and continue to hang them around Obama’s neck.

Yes, it’s a heated race. And it will be for the next five weeks. And beyond. In more ways than one.