Should We Worry How People Will React to an Obama Loss?

Ann Althouse asks an interesting question:

Do you worry about what black people will think if Barack Obama loses?

I do. This worry has been a factor in my thinking about whether to vote for Obama, and I also worry that it's wrong to allow it to be a factor.

I don't worry about black reaction anymore than I worry about Chinese or Mexican or Eskimo reaction. You shouldn't vote for someone because you're worried how some special interest group will react. It's clearly wrong to vote for or against a person based on race, and those who have decided that the most important thing about this election is making or not making a black man "the first black president" have demonstrated that they really don't care about the future of the country. Identity politics is no way to pick a president.

In reality, though the disappointment in some quarters of the black community may be briefly greater than in others, blacks have been voting for Democrats for president at a rate of 90+% in every election since the 60's. This year that percentage may be 94% or 95%. A whole lot of black voters have been disappointed for the last two election cycles, so this year won't be that much different.

There will be a black president some day, but it will take a much better candidate and one with more qualifications than Barack Obama to get it done. Just as the first female Vice President is likely to be a Republican, I would guess the first black president will be too.

Of course, Obama could still win, but the aura of inevitability that once surrounded him is gone and the reality of his thin resume' and brittle personality are becoming ever clearer to the American voters. They're not fainting at the sight of him anymore.