I was calling voters in Colorado today and I got a retiree who said he couldn't vote for Obama because of his associations. I queried, Ayers? He said no, his other associations. I said, "Because he's a Muslim? He's not." He said he knew he wasn't Muslim. We talked for a while about McCain and his pluses and minuses and we were very much on the same page there but he said despite really disliking McCain he just couldn't vote for Obama because of his associations. I pushed again and he said, "You know, Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson."
Ohh....
I said, "I'd add Al Sharpton to that trio," and he laughed and relaxed. I said, "Jesse Jackson hates him! Farrakhan is even farther away from him politically, so I don't think you have to worry about them having any influence upon him."
"I'll be blunt with you because you've been so honest with me," I said, " I understand that you're worried that he's got a grudge he'll take out on white America, but that's not part of Obama's story. That's not who he is. His mother and grandparents are white, and he loves them enough that he's gone off the campaign trail to spend time with his dying grandmother. Do you think he would listen to anyone who would want to hurt people he loves?"
He said to me, "Well, maybe I'll write someone else in or vote for Nader then."
I think I just converted a McCain supporter to an undecided.
