Reading Bob Johnson's diarycontending that there's a groundswell of disaffection among African-Americans due to one of the Clinton campaigner's "drug dealer" smear of Obama, I could see why that could well be the case.
The diary, however, cited a WaPo article that was not well-sourced. As a journalist myself, I would never talk about a "building backlash" without directly quoting at least two or three average African-Americans in support of that interpretation, nor would I paraphrase any Obama operatives who said "some African American leaders detect a pattern" without getting names of said leaders and quoting them.
Nonetheless, many commenters on the diary said that there is indeed a backlash growing. Since we're a big enough community to be our very own demographic, I'd like to measure how severe the disaffection is, at least among Kossacks. So -- please! -- TAKE THE POLL over the flip.
BTW -- disclosure -- I very much don't have a dog in this race... I don't get to vote as I'm Canadian. If I did, however, I'd likely choose Edwards with Obama as my second choice.
I have very strong opinions, however, about smear tactics in election campaigns, and about how "going negative" is bandied about in American politics as if it's a legitimate option. I think that this sort of campaigning weakens democracy itself in a nation, and even that nation's whole societal fabric, if it becomes the accepted norm. Fodder for another diary, maybe.
Naturally, the more people vote, the more the result will reflect the true feeling out there... so please rec this diary if you think it's a good idea.