I pray that I'm wrong, because I am a certified (certifiable) Obamaniac. I think he's just what this country needs.
Why am I concerned? Because I spoke with my 100-yr-old blind and mostly deaf Jewish grandmother the other night. She's a woman who has likely never voted for a Republican in her life. She told me that she will vote for McCain. No, she didn't come out and say it was because Obama is African American, but that's what was behind it. She uses the "he has no experience" meme, but that's not the real reason. Later in the conversation, we were talking about character and I threw the fact that McCain dumped his wife when he returned from Nam. Her stunning response? "She had gotten fat, you would have dumped her too." Huh? Grandma? Is this the same grandma who was married for over 50 years to the same man?
More below . ..
I stopped myself short of calling my grandmother a racist, but only because she told me I was always her favorite grandson. (and the fact that her vote for McCain in NY will have no impact.
Then, I was discussing this disgrace with mom in NJ. She lets me know that all the old ladies in the apartment complex she lives in are saying the same stuff. (Not my mom - she's in Obama's corner - phew).
I think the racism factor - especially among senior citizens is going to be bigger than people want to admit. That was the real reason the Clinton's kept saying that Obama can't win the general during the primary season. I didn't want to believe them because I was on board with Barack. However, for all the scummy stuff they tried to defeat Barack, I think this was the issue that they couldn't come out and say all along.
Nobody wants to talk about it, but to ignore it is folly. States like Michigan, Ohio, and PA are going to be challenges and race will be the issue.
I don't know the answer, and I hope I'm off base. I am convinced that a clone of Obama who had identical experience, identical speaking skills, identical policy views, etc, but was White, would win this election in a landslide.