What will Jon Stewart do about his need to (and the need for the Daily Show to have him) impersonate the president if Barack Obama takes the White Houset?

We all enjoy Stewart's imitations of Hillary Clinton (ala the man-in-drag hilarity that has tickled the national funny bone from Some Like it Hot to Tootsie to the Wayans brothers) and we all groan in commiseration at his feeble yet frequent forays into Bush land.

But a white man imitating a black man? That veers awfully close to minstrelry. Last night he took a stab at it, striking an Obama-esque pose and suggesting that the Democratic nominee was vying for coin-dom. But that was a rather fawning skirting of the central conundrum.

Also, a new comic protege debuted on his show last night, the night that Stewart announced Obama's ascension, and that new comic was brought on to discuss the election. The new comic is black. But race was not mentioned and it was really weird. Weird because it was an obvious connection to make, even if -- especially if -- in a comical way. But the entire matter was avoided by everybody. Not a fortuitous moment regarding the show's handling of the black thing.

No matter what anyone says about the Obama nomination, race really does matter. If Stewart can find a graceful way through it, it will be a big step forward for all of us.