[Mike Freese, left, and Waleed McFarland, right, discuss political issues outside Knology Park as they awaited Barack Obama to hold a rally Wednesday afternoon at Knology Park in Dunedin. Joseph Garnett, Jr.]

DUNEDIN -- Several hours before Obama took the stage, protesters clashed in front of the VFW Post 2550 across the street from the stadium. Waleed McFarland, 29, an African-American man from Tampa had a contentious verbal exchange with Mike Freese, 55, of St. Petersburg, who is white. Freese wore a camouflage hat with a rebel flag stitched on it, and the message "Git-R-Done." He carried a sign with a black-and-white duck referring to the fact that Obama is biracial.

"I've already been called a racist," Freese said, referring to the hat, but said he is not a racist. He tried to tell McFarland that the country is not racist, to which McFarland replied, "This is the most racist country in the world, and that is a fact. What about segregation?"

Freese replied, "I admit there was some discrimination."

McFarland got frustrated and walked a few steps away to talk to a reporter. "I have full confidence in Barack Obama's judgment," he said. "I've been following him since the 2004 Democratic convention. To me he represents the '80s, '90s and now. We've got reality TV, but we're further from reality than we've ever been," McFarland said.

McFarland said he is a volunteer for the Obama campaign in Tampa.

Eileen Schulte, Times staff writer

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