Although Mildred Powell, a black Anderson resident and soon-to-be vice president of NAACP’s Madison County branch, plans to vote for Barack Obama on Nov. 4, it has little to do with his race.

“There are so many things going on in our country that race should be the last thing on our minds, and unfortunately it isn’t,” Powell said. “(Obama) has to prove something to himself and to the country, that color doesn’t matter in terms of a person being able to be the country’s president.”

Unfortunately for Obama, a September poll from the Associated Press and Yahoo News shows racial prejudice could cost him up to six points in the election, a much larger margin than those by which the last two presidential elections were decided.

Although Democrats typically get more than 90 percent of the black vote and blacks have almost unanimously chosen to back Obama, their support could be canceled out by the 40 percent of white Americans who hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, according to the poll.

Powell said she had noticed some of that prejudice in watching the presidential candidates themselves, especially in the debate in which Republican nominee John McCain referred to Obama as “that one.”

“It’s not like he didn’t know his name,” Powell said. “It’s really just kind of a code where he’s saying something negative. You can’t use the N word; that would be politically incorrect. There are other words that mean the same thing, and they are recognized.”

Although most people, black or white, will vote for the candidate they think will serve the country better, Madison County Urban League secretary Betty Brisker said, black Anderson residents were excited to see Obama running.

“We might actually really have a black person that’s qualified to be the first black president,” Brisker said. “He’s a very articulate and educated man that’s close to what we want. We, as a black race, we want to finally see a black president. We all are tired of what’s been going on.”

But it’s economy that Brisker said most people are concerned about, not what race the next president is.

“We all want to see change,” she said. “We all want to continue to make a living, continue to see where we can send our children to college just like anybody else. We want to continue to buy houses.

“I think everybody is really tired of Bush, and they decided they better make their vote count this time.”

Indiana doesn’t ask voter registration applicants to identify their race, and a representative from the Madison County Voter Registration Office said she did not know whether more blacks had registered to vote this year.

Brisker’s position at the Urban League puts her in the position to see just who is interested in voting.

“There’s been a whole lot (of black residents) coming in wanting to know where they can register to vote,” she said.

According to the AP-Yahoo poll, Obama’s race has seemed to have an effect even on die-hard Democrats. Only 70 percent of those who identify themselves as Democrats planned to support Obama, while 85 percent of Republicans planned to vote for McCain.

Madison County Democrat Party Chairman Rob McNabney said he hadn’t seen racism cropping up for local Democrats and hoped the country was past that notion and ready to vote for the best candidate.

“I certainly hope in America we would respect each other and their achievements,” McNabney said. “I hope everyone in the United States would have an equal opportunity.”

McNabney said he had noticed an increase in voter turnout and registration this year, but it didn’t have to do with a particular race.

“I think that the voting turnout is going to be greater than any time in our history, but I think it will be for everyone,” he said. “What I’ve noticed is that people have been very interested in the debates and very interested in the state of our country because of the economy.”

Powell said the majority of blacks in the country see Obama as being the right person for the job, but that it wouldn’t make a difference whether he were black or white, only that he’s qualified to lead the country.

She said his candidacy could be one step to making change in the country’s economy and in race relations.

“I think people will have to look at what people have to bring to the table,” she said. “There are those who think that color doesn’t matter as long as the person has the ability and skills to give this country what it needs.

“I think Barack Obama can do that.”