‘I’m for the Spook’

A contractor friend of mine saw a union carpenter friend the other day and asked him who he’s voting for. “Oh, I’m for the spook,” he said. Journalists aren’t supposed to declare trends without three examples, but I have to believe this one will soon be on us: racists voting for Obama. The giant pushback that everyone’s waiting for from the white working class won’t happen. It’s part of the country’s liberation, of being postracial. Categories that meant a ton when we were young are starting to dissolve. The n-word will cease to be the n-word.