Interesting Take on Elections and Race

As we have been told, we are a "nation of cowards" when it comes to all matters of race.  But National Journal does an interesting analysis of attitudes towards Democrats based on race.  Some of it I knew anecdotaly, such as the high percentage of blue collar men and women who are Republicans.  I had explained that in the past because so much of the Democratic Party emphasis is on being a victim, and if you are white you are not allowed to be a victim, so you can't participate.  Also, I think that the blue collar workers who are white are more likely to see a future that is bigger than their present situation and circumstances.
But the article is fascinating for how the breakout of votes by races goes.  Unquestionably, minorities are going to go for Obama in 2012, and whites are probably going to continue to give the majority of their votes to the Republicans.  I think the fight is going to be over the college educated white vote.  If Obama keeps the same percentage as before, he should be able to cruise to re-election.  On the other hand, if enough white collar college educated white voters feel that the government has become too powerful and intrusive, the Republican Party should be the direct beneficiary.
The emphasis that the article puts on Colorado is especially telling.  There, the original Republican senatorial candidate was a Mr. Buck, who was a Tea Partier and a social conservative at the same time.  Interestingly, by the time the election came around, he was almost irrelevant, as Mr. Tancredo who was also of a Tea Party philosophy, but running as an Independent was the second place vote getter.   The difference was that Tancredo was less about social issues such as abortion as he was about illegal immigration.  And if Buck had bowed out, it's quite possible that Colorado would have been added to the Republican pickups.
The whole article is kind of long, but well worth it.  I suggest you read it.