Quote Originally Posted by Dave Byrd
Word, Daihashi. There's still lots more division in voter turnout than there ought to be. It's sad but true. Twenty-three percent of respondents today in an ABC News/Washington Post poll said race is gong to make a difference in this election decision. It's probably much much more, but we won't know the truth about that till after the election.

Not sure why this was brought up now on something Obama said nearly a year ago 'cause there's no story to it other than an attempted spin. He was simply saying he'll get more black voters out. That's true, and I hope he does, too. Black voters have historically been under-represented in elections. I assume because they've not felt much connection to the historically white candidates. If McCain were to say that about whites, it wouldn't be any more or less racist (or un-racist) or any more of a story with which to cast him in a negative light. It'd just be him saying he could get more of his constituency out. Except that in McCain's case, his constituency, which looks like me, middle-aged and white, has always been the demographic that votes more than anyone else.
Yes, I don't think he was saying blacks would vote for HIM because he is black. He was saying they would turn out to vote. If 40% of the population only usually casts 25% of the votes, then they are a demographic who is not turning out to cast votes. If he can get the black demographic to turn out in proportionate numbers, and they lean Democratic, then it may swing some states Democratic. It'll be intereting to see if having a black man in the race changes the participation of black voters. I would not be surprised if it did.