Governing in Black and White

"A) More white voters say Obama cares about people like them, than say the same thing about McCain by 31 to 23%

"B) On the essential issue in this campaign - bringing about change in Washington - Among white voters, Obama is seen as the change agent by 52% to 30%

"C) Obama's 31% favorable rating among white voters is virtually identical to McCain's, which is at 34%.

"D) By a 2 to 1 margin over McCain, white voters are more likely to say that Obama would improve America's image in the world."

At Time, numbers-cruncher Jackson Dykman has problems with the story:

"I too was really struck by the NYT's characterization of its own poll . . . I've rarely seen a story so wildly off from the actual data on which it is based . . .

"The premise of the story is, well, utter nonsense. Are we really supposed to think that because a black man has become the Democratic nominee in recent weeks that he somehow should have cured (or markedly improved) race relations in this country? This is just a silly premise, yet the story thrust of the story seems to be shock and surprise that the mere fact of Obama's candidacy hasn't reversed--or obliterated--the slight increase in racial tensions in this country over the past 8 years."

Most interesting interview of the day: Barack Obama with Glamour:

Q. An AP poll shows that while the positive ratings on Michelle are higher than those of Cindy McCain, her negative ratings are higher as well. I'm curious about how as a husband that makes you feel. Does it mystify you? And what do you want to say to those Americans who don't know the woman that you know?

Obama: It's infuriating, but it's not surprising, because let's face it: What happened was that the conservative press--Fox News and the National Review and columnists of every ilk--went fairly deliberately at her in a pretty systematic way . . . and treated her as the candidate in a way that you just rarely see the Democrats try to do against Republicans. And I've said this before: I would never have my campaign engage in a concerted effort to make Cindy McCain an issue, and I would not expect the Democratic National Committee or people who were allied with me to do it. Because essentially, spouses are civilians. They didn't sign up for this. They're supporting their spouse. So it took a toll. If you start being subjected to rants by Sean Hannity and the like, day in day out, that'll drive up your negatives."

I take it we won't be seeing the Illinois senator on "Hannity & Colmes" any time soon?

On all the TV hoopla over Obama's overseas trip, Josh Marshall seizes on some mild carping by McCain's spokeswoman: