Race Driving Away White Democrats From Obama

Hello "Bradley Effect":

AP-Yahoo News poll finds “deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close.”

Says “one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them ‘lazy,’ ‘violent’ or responsible for their own troubles.”

Suggests the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of race could “easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004″ — about 2.5 percentage points.

Don't forget that those numbers are generated from people willing to tell pollsters the truth. There are still voters out there who, based on past experience, will tell pollsters that they'll support a black candidate but won't actually vote that way. That's why any lead of less than 5% has to be worrisome for the Obama campaign. Obama's vote totals consistently underperformed during the primaries based on the final polling and exit polls.

And what about all those racist Republicans out there who won't vote for Obama because he's half black? Here's what the poll had to say:

Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren’t voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn’t vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown.

It may well be racism that keeps Obama out of the White House, but it won't be racism generated by Republicans.