Courting the Racist Vote

Ben Smith at Politico sends along the experience of an Obama volunteer talking to people in a white working class neighborhood of Philadelphia.

"What's crazy is this," he writes. "I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are f***ing undecided. They would call him a n----r and mention how they don't know what to do because of the economy."

How fascinating is that? Out and out, unapologetic racists still can’t decide if they can vote for McCain. What does it say when a person who would use that kind of language – to an Obama campaign worker – and still can’t talk themselves into voting for the old white guy? It’s always been true that economic issues cut for the Democratic candidate as well as the party out of power. I think we’re seeing that effect in full force if even the racists are undecided.

On a more sociological note, I think this says something interesting about the United States. The media won’t come out and call anyone racist directly. After almost forty years of Sesame Street, if nothing else we’ve learned it’s not culturally acceptable to be a racist. This has positive and negative effects. It means that people see racism in public statements when they aren’t warranted and ignore them when they are.