The pundits have been writing for almost two years about the impact of race on this presidential election, but what about the impact of our view of racism on our fellow voters?

Tuesday morning on the Bill Press show, callers were discussing their reactions to the reaction of conservatives who claim that Colin Powell endorsed Obama because they are both black. While that line of thinking is certainly racist, one comment really made me stop and think.

I can't recall if it was Press or a caller, but someone said that "...hopefully America will do the right thing in a few weeks." What they meant by that, in the context of the conversation, was that by electing Obama we would be rejecting the racist messages coming from McCain's supporters.

As someone who will be voting for Obama in November, I can't help but stop and think that we are painting McCain's supporters with a very broad racist brush. I think someone with far more time on their hands needs to create a quick quiz for people to use to examine if they are voting for McCain or against Obama and if it is race-based.

• Are you firmly against abortion and it's your #1 election issue? Most likely not a racist voter (unless your stance on abortion is because there aren't enough white babies being born).


• Are you uneasy with the idea of "the Blacks taking over?" Go directly to Racism 101 class and do not pass Go.

Or is my reaction to this broad brush a sign that I do not want to have this conversation with certain members of my circle of friends? Those who I feel are "good people" but deep in my heart I know they are going to vote McCain and possibly not for the best reasons. There are people in my life whom I'm just not going to ask who they voted for, I just can't go there. But Natalie Portman thinks we should all sit down and have that talk.

[Image: Victor Juhasz for Rolling Stone]