I was talking the other day to a prominent Republican who asked me what I thought John McCain’s strongest issues would be in the general election. Lower taxes and the argument he will be better able to protect America from its enemies, I said. Republicans have a pretty good track record with those two. The Republican shook his head. ‘You’re missing the most important one,’ he said. ‘Race. McCain runs against Barack Obama and the race vote is worth maybe 15 percent to McCain.’ The man I was talking to is not a racist; he was just stating what he believes to be a fact: There is a percentage of the American electorate who will simply not vote for a black person no matter what his qualities or qualifications. How big is that percentage? An AP-Yahoo poll conducted April 2-14 found that ‘about 8 percent of whites would be uncomfortable voting for a black for president.’ I don’t know if 8 percent sounds high or low to you, but I was amazed that 8 percent of respondents were willing to admit this to a pollster. And I figure that the true figure is much […]