Where hope for Obama cuts both ways

Will white voters sell Barack Obama out?

Is hope for dopes?

Did John McCain bury himself -- or seal the deal -- by picking Sarah Palin?

Is change really possible in Washington, D.C, where wealth and power will always preside?

Over the next two months, there will not be a single moment of silence at Lawrence Tolliver's Barber Shop on Florence near Western. Not with so many questions on the table.

Ministers, professors, cops, pharmacists, teachers, retirees and others will file into Mr. Tolliver's hallowed parlor, where political apathy is detested, meekness is weakness, and opinions are expressed loudly enough to be heard in Long Beach. They'll come whether they need a haircut or not, because history is on the line.

On Nov. 4, we may elect the first African American president.

If not, we'll elect the first female vice president.

The South L.A. shop has its share of conservative views, especially on crime, teen pregnancy and derelict dads. But Martin Luther King's portrait hangs over the price list (Haircut -- $12), Obama posters are everywhere, and John McCain probably couldn't find a single vote at Tolliver's if he promised government-funded haircuts for life.

(I promise to visit the first pro-McCain barbershop that invites me to hear the other side. Anybody reading today in Newport Beach?)

"Barack sounded like MLK and JFK last night," Mr. Tolliver was saying Friday morning. He was talking, of course, about Sen. Obama's nomination acceptance speech the previous night in Denver. By comparison, he said, "John McCain sounds like Lawrence Welk."

The shop TV was blasting the news of Palin's selection as McCain's running mate. Although some customers feared she might steal a few female votes from Obama, the crowd was more concerned that a President McCain would keel over while in office and be replaced by a relatively inexperienced politician who runs a state with a population equal to that of Bakersfield and Santa Ana.

"They say she's got executive experience," Mr. Tolliver scoffed. "I've got executive experience too. I run a barbershop."

As for GOP criticism of Obama, Mr. Tolliver said:

"If they saw Barack Obama walk on water, they'd say, 'You see? I told you he couldn't swim.' "

The Rev. Ron Simmons of West Angeles Church of God in Christ said the proceedings in Denver were overwhelming.

"I went from almost crying to thinking it was a dream and I was going to wake up and Bush had another year and a half to go."