Not until he reunited with rival Hillary Clinton in Unity, N.H., did we realize that Barack Obama put so much thought in geographic symbolism. It's why he was in Independence, Mo., ahead of Independence Day to talk up patriotism.

More stops for his "I Love America, Really, and So Does Michelle" tour on the road to the White House:

First: Happy, Texas.

They do happy big-time in this small "town without a frown," nestled between Randall and Swisher counties in the Amarillo neighborhood of the Lone Star State.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt visited, he caused quite a stir. Or was that hometown rockabilly legend Buddy Knox? FDR was treated to a parade featuring the Uncle Sam Band, founded in Happy in the 1930s.

To score the audacity-of-happy vote in Texas, Obama should hop on stilts and parade down Main Street in a stovepipe hat as he juggles flag pins while the new Uncle Sam Band plays "You're a Grand Old Flag" on kazoos.

He gets to say: "If you Happy people voted for me in November, you'd make me the happiest next president of the United States."

Next stop: City of Faith, S.D.

Obama surprised supporters and detractors with his Bush-inspired plans for more faith-based initiatives. Oy! Isn't he supposed to be the change agent? Yet he's going after a big chunk of the Christian evangelical base that enjoyed unprecedented quid pro quo coziness with the loyal Bushies. Just when he should put more air between church and state separation, Obama seems willing to leave bad enough alone.

How far down the Christian evangelical path will he go to prove he is not Muslim (as if that were a crime)? City of Faith presents a good platform for Obama to provide more details.

He also can explain why the Nation of Islam — which educated and reformed thousands of black convicts, ex-cons and at-risk young black men — always will be snubbed by any U.S.-government-derived faith-based initiative.

Obama also can explain why our government allows child abuse when it permits white men to marry and impregnate the barely legal, dominate and exploit white mothers, and set up tax-exempt Mormon-style churches on compounds. Their children seem clean and polite, so that ought to count for some faith-based government initiatives, right? What about the Wiccans?

Next stop: Rainbow City, Ala.

Obama basks in the shadow of his diverse family tree and has a color spectrum of support in this race. Obama can agree to join John McCain for their first town hall meeting, but only if the senators meet at the new farmer's market, in the parking lot of Rainbow City Hall.

It is where Obama can spring a trap for the GOP nominee, whose family is also biracial and multicultural.

Among McCain's children is a daughter adopted in Asia as an infant. McCain hasn't talked about this much since he ran for president against Dubya and fellow Republicans in the South ran a whisper campaign alleging that the dark-skinned McCain is really the senator's black love child. In some parts of America, color and so-called race-mixing still matter.

For Obama, such personal baggage is an easy lift. While in Rainbow, he can applaud miscegenation and diversity. The more he does the more McCain will cringe and go mute. Though not ashamed of his family, McCain is still sensitive to the subject that cost him the presidency years ago. Plus some of the Grand Old Propagandists who were against him then are working now to elect him and usher in a third Bush term. They don't call him McSame for nothing, folks.

Obama should conclude his tour with stops in the four Libertys: North Liberty, Iowa; South Liberty, Tenn.; East Liberty, Ohio; and finally, at the September Sorghum Festival in West Liberty, Ky.

Naturally, he must avoid Dodge City, Kan.

Rhonda Chriss Lokeman (RCLCreators@kc.rr.com) is a contributing editor to The Kansas City Star. To find out more about Rhonda Chriss Lokeman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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