I can't speak for people elsewhere, but I (and most others, I believe) come to this forum to discuss and analyze elections, and race clearly plays a very major role, especially in a competitive election like Obama vs. McCain. I think most of us can agree that it would be silly to pretend like it isn't a factor.
I agree, I believe race will be one of the top 3 decisive factors in this race, it has the potential to put either side over the top. African-Americans could have a very dramatic turnout in Virginia and put Obama over the top there, and/or in Ohio or PA resistance to a black candidate could perhaps throw either state to Mccain, I personally just like analyzing all this and you can't ignore the 300 pound gorilla in the room
I understand how Obama supporters could be upset when they read somewhere about how racism could hurt their candidate, heck I get a little ticked when i read that 97% of African Americans are supporting Obama and 2% are supporting mine
97-2 is probably not an accurate breakdown; 94-6 seems more like it to me. Besides, that's like a 6-point swing among a demographic that makes up 12% of the U.S. voting population. In other words, the net effect (without turnout adjustment) is <1%. With turnout adjustment, I'd be surprised if it reached 1%.
"Reverse-racism" (AKA racism) might limit the overall net damage of Obama due to racism, but he's still going to lose more votes because of it than gain.
