Why didnt I hear in 06 If you don't vote for Blackwell or Swann your racist?

[bgwah]

I see what you mean, but those weren't really competitive to begin with. Blackwell and Swann were up against popular Democrats and seemed like little more than sacrificial lambs to me--but I suspect they lost several percentage points because of race (Blackwell wasn't a really bad candidate like Swann).

The election I like to use as an example of racism helping the Democrats is Louisiana in 2003. If the Republicans ever run Jindal for President, and his Democratic opponent is white, I'll have no problem saying racism helped the Democrat get to 500 electoral votes, just like I have no problem saying racism helped Blanco in 2003.

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.