20%

I've been hoping to avoid it, but we might as well deal with the exit poll of Kentucky voters. The poll said that some 20% of respondents admitted that race played a factor in their vote. The vast majority of that 20% went for Hillary.

Damning evidence of racism in the Democratic party? Not if you look at the wording.

I would have answered "Yes" to a question of that sort if asked why I voted for Obama in the California primary. The Democratic party has never picked a black person as either the presidential or vice presidential nominee. I felt (and feel) that it is high time for the party to do so. Hell, it was high time before I was born. Of course, this was not my sole criterion for choosing Obama -- my main concern was electability. But, yeah, race did enter into my thoughts.

What if I lived in Kentucky? Again, I would have answered "yes" to the question. Race -- or at least racial issues -- would have affected my decision to vote against Obama. I feel that his campaign has unfairly accused the Clintons, and Clinton supporters, of bigotry. That doesn't mean I would have voted against Obama because he is black; I would have voted against him based on the way he used race in the campaign.

Lots and lots of Democrats turned against Obama for this reason. The media and the Big Blogs try to minimize our numbers. They try to pretend that Obama's only remaining Democratic foes are Hillary-crazed feminist silly-billies who will fly into a rage if the person behind the president's desk owns something other than a vagina. But millions of people share my sense of outrage at Obamabot "racist-baiting."

Right now, Obi may be the only black person I definitely don't want to see in that office. Jeremiah Wright? Alan Keyes? Lemme think about it. But not Obama. For all sorts of reasons, he has pissed me off.

I'm seriously thinking of switching to Cynthia McKinney in the general. If I go that route, race will have very little to do with my choice. I like her on the economy, on the war, and on the impeachment of W -- although her friendly attitude toward the 9/11 kooks bugs the hell out of me. I must admit, though, that it'll be cute to watch my enemies try to call me a bigot for being a man of Cyn.

What about those voters who, not racist themselves, don't feel that a black person can win in the general? They may have voted for Hillary not to block a black man but to block John McCain.

The Confluence had some interesting figures:

In Georgia 18% of voters said that gender was an issue, and those voters backed Obama by 12 points. Does that mean that Georgians are a bunch of sexists who would never vote for a woman? I don’t remember the media making a big deal about that at the time.

Nahh. Sexism doesn't matter. On Florida:

Additionally, when asked if the US is ready to elect a woman President, 17% said no, and the majority of them voted for Obama. Using their very same logic it is starting to look like Obama supporters are a bunch of sexist cavemen.

In Connecticut, which Obama won, 15% of voters said that race was a factor in their voting decision. Of those voters, the overwhelming majority voted for Obama. Since only 9% of the voters in CT were black, then some of those voters who considered race must have been both white, and voted for Obama. Using the media’s stupid reasoning, how can we explain this?

Next time, the exit pollsters need to ask a follow-up question. If race affected the vote -- in what way and to what degree?