Blue State, Red State, Black State, White State

Perfect analysis.
Several months ago there was a racist named “Tina” on this blog who would repeat over and over that Dems were STUPID for nominating Obama and that HE CAN NOT WIN (she would use all caps like that). She claimed that all us boomers must be killed off before a black man could ever become president.
Haven’t heard from Tina for a while…

of course this election is about race! many of our elections – even without a black candidate – have had racial undertones. at least this one is often more overt and may provide, on election night or in the months and years to follow, a catharsis for a culture shaded by centuries of racial discrimination, prejudice, and violence.
you are spot on in your analysis of the the media representation in this photo. just like the parties and the campagins themselves, the media has twisted and turned and bent over backwards to try to figure out how to avoid the minefields no one quite knows how to identify. are conversations like the one featured on the times magazine cover enabled or limited by the spotlight?
two visual elements that strike me:
1 – the lighting on obama’s face and shirt recall both the idealized america of norman rockwell’s work and the iconic black and white photos of earlier black leaders, including, most strikingly, martin luther king. (aside from obama’s barely blue-ish tie, he appears almost in black and white!)
2 – the staging at the bar reminds me of the “lunch counters” of the civil rights movement. the body language of the two men depict the complicated, profound path our country has taken since the heightened racial conflicts of the last century: though obama stands while the other man sits already established at the counter, his hand is in his pocket, the older man has turned to face obama, and they share a look of purpose and seriousness as if acknowledging (as does the accompanying article) that the nation’s challenges may be too great to allow old ways of thinking to get in the way.

That microphone on the boom doesn’t look like a noose to anyone else?

I’m white and 49. I can hardly believe that I’m happily voting for a black man. I’m also a Southerner and working class.

Gee boomer, you wouldn’t be a bitter, petulant old fart or anything, would you?
Good grief, just the sort of thing I was talking about.
And yes, many white boomers (not all but many) are very racist, and if the election is lost for Obama, it will be because of the older generation voting their prejudices.
And, it is customary to use capital letters to begin a sentence, for names, and for emphasis. Just in case you didn’t know that.

Yikes! Tina, you’re back and meaner than ever on us boomers.
You think I’m “bitter” and “petulant”? You betcha:
http://www.colderbythelake.com/bruce_ojard.htm