FREMONT, Calif. -- After more than 30 years in Congress, nothing surprises Pete Stark anymore.

The left of left Democratic stalwart said in brief interview with PolitickerCA.com this week that he is preparing and looking forward to attending this month's Democratic National Convention in Denver.

That said, Stark said he believes the convention will be the stage allowing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to begin the process of "closing the deal" with the nation's voters.

And, to be sure, that "deal" still needs to be closed most everywhere but in the Golden State where Californians have signaled their wide support for the Illinois senator over GOP rival Sen. John McCain.

"California - especially Northern California is not like any place else in this country. It's a unique area. We tend to be far more accepting and open than other states and that's where the difficulty for the Obama camp comes in," Stark said.

And while few politicians like to talk of it openly, Stark says that racism - both subtle and overt - will play a role in who people vote for this November. Stark said the key to Obama overcoming that vexing issue is to be the first candidate to offer concrete solutions to fixing the country's broken economy.

Specifically, Stark said that if he was advising the Obama camp he would suggest the senator take a page from another formidable Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and present a 21st Century version of a "New Deal" plan that would kick-start the stalled economy.

"Listen, there's not one city, county or state out there that doesn't have some sort of community improvement plans sitting on some shelf getting dusty. If I was Obama I would pledge to create a new federal funding program that would get these projects off the ground. With it will come jobs. With jobs you have people earning a living again and buying things - that's how you turn a sick economy around."

Stark says that he thinks Obama ought to pay a certain amount of deference to his former foe, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, during the convention - but not too much.

"I think it's a delicate situation. On one hand he has to show his respect for her and the women that supported her candidacy," Stark said. "On the other, I really do think he has to move ahead and focus on closing the deal with the voting public."

The congressman did lament that the convention this year might not have the presence of a much-need "father figure" personality to help unify and to point out the differences of what it would mean to elect Obama versus what it would mean to elect McCain.

"I think we're going to miss Teddy (Kennedy)," Stark said of the famed senior Massachusetts Democrat who suffered a debilitating stroke earlier this year. "We are going to need someone with that kind of gravitas that get up there on the podium and say, ‘Hey, we need to come together and we need to do it now.'"