Author Gore Vidal’s death yesterday has given occasion for Americans, especially those who share his liberal political leanings, to remember and appreciate his writing and remarks on cultural, political, and literary issues. Here’s one remark that may prove instructive to people who assume that disappointment with President Obama is motivated by racism.

“I was delighted when Obama appeared on the scene,” Vidal told The Atlantic in October 2009. “But now it seems as though our original objection to him – that experience mattered – was well-founded.” He also said that Hillary Clinton “would have been a wonderful president.”