Looking Ahead to the Race and the other Race

I realize I posted this link once before already today. But I was so blown away by the article I wanted to post the link again and take a moment to comment on it. Roger Simon of politico takes some polling results and writes a stunning synopsis of why Obama will inevitably have a ceiling in the general election as the likely Democratic nominee. According to an AP/Yahoo! poll 8% of registered white voters are uncomfortable voting for a black man. The same poll found that 15% of respondents thought that Obama was a muslim despite the whole Rev. Wright scandal.

What fascinated me about reading the number 8% is that it didn't shock me. Not even a little. As I drove through Alabama and Mississippi on my way to New Orleans two years ago I met some of those 8%. But I also met them at the local roller rink in Queens, NY. Across this country those 8% are alive and well and they are just the percentage that was willing to admit it to a pollster.

The bottom line is we live in a country that is not beyond the racial divide yet. I wonder if having a black president could change that.