(This is worth a listen/read)
This is the second report in a series of conversations NPR is having with voters in York, Pa., about race and its role in the 2008 presidential election. Steve Inskeep and Michele Norris plan to meet with a group of 13 voters — a mix of whites, blacks and Latinos — from this swing state several times this fall to dig a little bit deeper than election polls.
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Most voters say they won't decide between Barack Obama and John McCain on the basis of race. But, in a question that is more subtle than the standard questions in a poll, can a decision be based on the racial experience of the voter?
Of the 13 voters interviewed by Morning Edition and All Things Considered, many said this election had them thinking about race in new ways.
"I don't know if I can see another old white man as president," says Cal Weary. He's a black high school drama teacher who voted for President Bush in the past two elections. He knows that his declaration might sound harsh.
"And that sounds very racist for me to say it that way, but it is about appearances, and it is about this country, everywhere else being looked as being the biggest lie," Weary says. "You tell everyone in the world that we have the greatest opportunities here, you tell them anyone can start from shining shoes and be in charge of a Fortune 500 company, but then you say to the rest of the world, you say, 'You can have everything, but you can't live in the big White House.'"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94523754