Race (Issue) Is On

Rep. John Lewis charged McCain team with pushing race today,  and McCain asked Obama to reject that view.  Obama declined to do that.  Lewis, of course, is the same man McCain cited recently on national TV as one of the wisest fellas he knows.  The Washington Post is out with two major pieces on Sunday, an overall look at race truly emerging as an issue by Ann Kornblut and a probe of the debate over the "Bradley Effect" -- whether a fair number of whites who tell pollsters they will vote for Obama either are fibbing or will back out in the voting booth.  Put me in the camp that has always believed that the Effect is real and that Obama will lose a few % points in the end because of it.  So his 10% point lead in many polls may be a good deal less than that, though real enough.

Tony Blankley of the Washington Times made an oblique reference to this on CNN last night when he said that the race was closer than thought because Obama tended to "poll higher" in many of his primary races.  Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Sarah Palin talked to Alaskan reporters back home today on the phone, denying any wrongdoing at all in Troopergate, adding that "McCain and I are taking the high road, being positive."-- Greg Mitchell

Comments

[Andrea]

What Lewis did was compare McCain to a segregationists campaign and that Obama did reject, and rightly so. But agreed with the hatred at the rallies. I agree with that.Seeing those crowds turned my stomach. I can't imagine people getting so worked up over politics. I think race is a very sensitive issue and unless McCain did something blatantly racist then bringing up race would hurt obama more than mcCain.

[Joyce]

It's closer than pundits and pollsters (particularly left-leaning ones) are calling it.

A week ago, I did an experiment on my blog. Using the RCP map, I applied a mild "Bradley Effect" and gave McCain an additional 5 points in 6 swing states -- and McCain takes it. It might not work with the numbers out today, but it shows that the race is close.

We can argue till the cows come home over what causes the Bradley Effect -- racisim, counter-racism, media bias, -- but the reality is that black candidates do better in public polling, and white ones do better after votes are counted.

I wish I could put my hands over my eyes and pretend race did not play such a big role in these elections, or in American life in general. But it does. While McCain/Palin are not personally responsible for each nutcase, they ARE responsible for the tone of their campaign and the way their rallies are run.

If America is run the same shameful way the McCain campaign has been these past weeks, the U.S. will become an even more divided country.

[Lucy Sommer]

Would these same people not vote for a Mexican-American? Or, an Asian-American? Or, a Native American?

Why do they feel they must vote for a Northern European-American?