It's this effect which has me doubting every poll. Given that folks don't like to be called racist and the press is not missing many opportunities to do so, how apt are they to actually say, "Why yes, I'm not voting for the lightweight, single term Senator from Illinois. Last guy who looked like him was banging some filmmaker while his wife had cancer."

If I was Obama and I wasn't up by 15 points come September 30, I'd be scared. Really, really scared. Because when it's just the voting machine, the voter, and Jesus (insert deity of choice) a lot of folks are going to be very annoyed at how the press has been hammering this meme.

What does tick me off, however, are the African-Americans who feel totally okay for voicing the opposite opinion. It's one thing to hold it, but it's another thing to say, "Oh, you're messed up if you don't vote for a black man just because he's black." Um, no, that's called racism, and somehow I don't think we spent several decades as a nation trying to get this far only to say it's okay to embrace judging on sight again. But there I go being an idealist.

I tried to read that article...but I kept thinking about the author's attendance being taken in grade school last name first and couldn't stop giggling. hahhhahaaaha

I think many and any racial grouping in the USA can contain bigots and racists. The idea that black people will vote for Obamna because he is also black is a nonsense. Tinker tried this approach in Tennessee only this week, and found that her nasty campaigning against Cohen (she attacked him on being white and being Jewish btw) failed miserably even among her supposed same-colour base.

bryan, I haven't commented in a while, mostly because of quarterly reports, and also because you haven't said anything particulary stupid, but remember that I'm generally watching.

As always, you should stick to things you know about. Most people would classify that as "things pertaining to your own country," but as I've shown before, even geographical proximity is questionable with you. Your first statement is true only because it's so general that a reasonable person can accept it as true. After that, your delve into specifics comes up quite lacking.

You're comparing two different campaigns with two different candidates. Number one, Cohen beat Tinker in a Democratic primary, in which voters are more ideologically homogeneous compared to sharply divided voters in a presidential race. A primary for a House of Representatives seat is not just about 1/435th of the U.S. Congress, but about one party that will later contest another for that single seat.

Second, negative campaigning backfired. Implying "Don't vote for the Jew" are very different than assuming people will vote for you because you're black and they're black. Obama for the most part has stayed away from negative campaigning about race. Only recently did he say that malarky about McCain's campaign will try to say he doesn't look like other presidents, blah blah. Thing is, McCain's campaign never brought that up! Obama pulled that dirty trick to impugn McCain, when in fact it's Obama that had to create the spectre of "racism" in order to confront it. It's more faux outrage, just like the Jesse Jackson thing that was planned. Yes, you read right. I say it was contrived to give Obama a faux appearance, just like an aspiring rapper hopes to get shot non-lethally so he gains "street cred." With an illegitimate child, Jackson was the civil rights leader chosen to make a stupid comment and fall on his sword.

Several of my "African American" co-workers are no better than David Duke. After the Super Tuesday primaries where Obama took a commanding lead, they were chattering all day in excitement. Why, when they had previously shown not a bit of interest in politics? Because Obama is black. That's all they care about.

The irony is that he's not the same kind of "African-American" as they are, but they're so blind to most everything but his skin color. His mother is white, and his father was a Kenyan immigrant. Contrast this with most "African-Americans," whose are descended from slaves.

I'm still trying to find this news article from a while back, just before the Democratic primaries. Obama said that if he's the candidate, he can guarantee a certain percentage increase in black voters. Why? Very simple: many American blacks will vote for him simply because he's black. That's no less racist than a white person refusing to vote for a non-white candidate. As for me, I couldn't care about his skin color. He's a socialist and would never get my voice. He's a foreign policy weakling, if not a closet raghead himself, and would never get my vote.