The Voting Booth Should Be Color Blind

The closer to the the completion of this election the better a majority of the US population would feel. This is by far the most disturbing election for a number of reasons, the length of the campaign trail, the lack of REAL candidates on either side of the aisle and lastly the hype that both sides have been promoting. Last week we saw another one of those election moments that will remain the talk of the election no matter the outcome. Much like the Dukakis tank photo op which has outlasted his importance in the world of politics. This time it wasn't as moment frozen in time, it was a verbal faux paus. Not from Joe Biden, but from the Pennsylvania Senator Jack Murtha. Murtha stated that Western Pennsylvania "is a racist area", and then he tried to back pedal and correct the gaffe. He then say what he meant to say was that "Western Pennsylvania was really redneck". Now I am no Rhodes scholar but are either of these statements appropriate? My question once again is who is really putting emphasis on the issue of race in this election? During the Pennsylvania Democratic primary (which is partisan based, only Dems can vote) the exit polls asked if voted for Obama and if not what was the factor. 1 in 6 said they voted against Obama because of his race. This issue should really bother everyone for the fact that I believe that most Caucasians I feel harbor no racist inclinations at all. If Obama does not successfully get the reins of the White House, the racist fingers will be pointing to every white individual.
Now the other interesting idea presented is (yes once again another poll number) in a recent poll of black American voters, over 94 percent say that they are voting for Obama because he is black. So why the importance? Simply stated that the race card has been an issue for the Democrats, be it used simply for blame, or to just keep mentioning that his race is the issue in the event of a loss of the election to stoke the fire of modern racism in America.