But just about every person interviewed in this article gave an absolutely moronic answer for refusing to vote for Obama. Can't relate to him (so? You can relate to a former POW with an heiress wife? Really?), seems too elitist, he's Muslim (which is flat-out bigotry--if Obama was Muslim, not voting for him because of that fact makes you racist, something the media kind of gloss over).

No one said I disagree with his tax policy; I'm not crazy about his healthcare ideas; his statements about performing military operations in sovereign nations without their approval makes me uneasy.

Did anyone even criticize his lack of experience as an executive at the state level?

Your article is just saying small-town America is hideously misinformed, very prejudiced, and ultimately dumb.

Meet the Republican base.

I'm losing patience with the many ways people are veiling their racism. However, one thing makes me laugh ironically.

Rural voters not connecting with a black man?? Come on. If it hadn't been for African-Americans (originally slaves), we wouldn't have had a burgeoning rural economy in the U.S. Ever.

Sigh. Hoping for the best still. Working for good candidates who have rightly left the 17th-20th centuries behind. Let's do it! Let's elect this promising, smart, and dedicated ticket.

What's next, people?

I guess every country gets the government it desreves. If most people in this country are so stupid (yes, I mean STUPID) that "intellectualism" is seen as a negative trait and shooting moose, riding snowmobiles, believing in Creationism, the Rapture, speaking in tongues, LYING one's way through life for political gain and allowing teenage girls to get pregnant, without the benefit of sex education and the ability to make and "intelligent" choice, then; the good ole USA deserves McCain/Palin.

A sad day, indeed. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams et al, must be doing some rapid turns in their graves.

Poor uneducated, underemployed whites will not vote for Obama simply because he's Black. I do appreciate the efforts of this article to dispel what is automatically assumed to be an issue of race. However the majority of whites Independent, undecided or otherwise will vote Republican because they hear the rhetoric and they believe. Oh yes Lord they believe. Family values. Whoo hoo. More Kool-Aid more Kool-Aid please, while its Republican policy that keeps the poor and underserved groups in this nation out of jobs and out of options they will do it anyway.

Can't relate to Obama. Of course not. White people like their blacks on TV being arrested from a crack den, shooting hoops for the NBA or in some video with young females shaking their booty to some intelligible rant "throw your hands in the air". His education (can't relate), he's biracial (can't relate). He has a wife and family (can't relate) We are all mutts by the way. Would it be better if Obama had some welfare mom, went to a City College and had at least one child out of wedlock. Would that make middle America feel more comfortable. No of course because then he'd just be some no good n---er trying to run for President. How dare he!

Let's just admit it we like our leaders white and male. And no matter what background you're from that is what makes the world go 'round.

Barrack should stop wearing the hand tailored $1400 suits, and start wearing cowboy hats. White ones.

Biden should just shut up, hang out in small town coffe shops at breakfast time and chew gum.

That I'm a dipshit.

Are the black people voting for Obama aware of his tax policy, healthcare ideas, and foreign policy? Are they concerned about his lack of experience? Has anyone even asked them? Of course racism still exists in this country (and it goes both ways), but not all people hesitant about voting for Obama are racists.

Yes, Truman had a high school education. But that was at a time when just finishing high school was a very big deal. Millions of Americans born when he was didn't even enter high school, let alone finish it.

More important, remember that HST only became president because FDR died in office in 1945. HST was narrowly elected for a second term in 1948 (recall famous picture of him holding a newspaper with the erroneous headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN").

Others can debate how good a president HST really was, but it should be remembered that, in his time, there were a lot of folks who didn't like him, or the job he did.

HST's presidency ended more than 55 years ago, too.

Racism is definitely a 2 way street.

During Bill Clinton's presidency he spent billions of dollars creating urban empowerment zones.

In 1994, he sent troops into Haiti to prop up the administration of duly elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Bill Clinton had many blacks in major positions in the White House. The chief of White House personnel, his budget director, his director of public outreach, his deputy chief of staff were all African-American. His liaison between the White House and the Congress -- Thurgood Marshall's son -- was African-American.

Then a completely unknown (outside of Illinois) black junior senator runs against Hillary and instantly receives 90% of the black vote.....a purely racist act.

People (and myself) often marvel at the seeming willingness of voters - such as those in the economically-depressed areas covered in this article - to vote against their own interests in national elections.

We all know how it happens. In this case, we've got a personality contest between Obama, cast as an out-of-touch elitist by the Right, facing off against the down-home goodness Palin has apparently lent the McCain ticket. Year by year, however, voters like those interviewed for this story don't interact much with the national political scene. Rather, they see glimpses of national politics in their peripheries - certain stories, for one reason or another, catch their attention, but living in the States affords citizens the opportunity to largely forget national politics when election cycles are over.

People like these face off with their political values once every four years, then forget them to go about their daily lives. The merits of this reality aside, it's clear that for some people, political issues really only come to the fore when election campaigns are in full swing. Others fail to pay attention even then. What we're left with is an electorate that is open to the kind of personality-based manipulation we see in so many voters every day.

IMO, it's time to bring voting tests back. We need a straightforward, policy-based exam that can be administered at polling stations to determine whether or not voters have actually considered the issues and platforms behind the candidates they are voting for.

Before dismissing this idea, I'd ask readers to consider the following:

What if, during every national election cycle, the FCC mandated that broadcast networks, newspapers, and online resources had to make susbtantive information on political candidates' policy history and platforms readily available to the public? What if C-Span, PBS, NBC, ABC and CBS had to provide viewers with access to this information on a nightly or weekly basis? What if newspapers had to include tiny sections outlining the policy history of each candidate?

If this information were readily available on a mandatory basis, there would be little justification for failing a voting test. Don't care enough to pay attention? Sorry, you don't get to help decide how to run the country. Like a candidate based on personality alone? Sorry, we're looking for voters who actually understand what they're voting for. Can't read? The test can be administered verbally.

Would such an exam whittle away at our already dismal voting numbers? Probably. Personally, I'd rather have an electorate of 10 million that actual knows something about candidates' policy positions than one of 57 million rubes for whom lipstick pigs are a major political consideration.

We've seen the Bush years. We don't need another president elected on a personality basis. Until the American voter is responsible enough (never?) to deal with the business of knowing the in and outs of the platform for which s/he casts the ballot, we need a new mechanism to force political consideration before voting takes place.

Get rid of the one-issue voters. Get rid of the folks who are swayed by mistruths and lies during campaign season. Get rid of the fools who just want a president they can relate to.

We need to heal our wounded electoral culture. We need simple, straightforward voting exams that will ensure we have voters who actually know what they're voting for.