There is an interesting new study that suggests racial bias decreased support for Obama in 2008, based on Google data about searches that include the word "n—r," which was used to measure white racism in about 200 different areas of the U.S. I find the study basically plausible — there are racists in America, and presumably they'd rather not vote for the targets of their racism — but here are few quick notes.
One, as John Sides of The American Prospect points out, it's worth asking not merely "Did some whites refuse to vote for Obama because of his race?" but also, "What would have happened, on net, if Obama had been white?" I suspect that Obama's race (A) increased black turnout and (B) raised support and increased turnout among white voters who were eager to prove how not-racist they were.
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