One thing I've been worried about throughout the campaign is the "hidden" racists. I know the AP tried to quantify this a few weeks ago, by saying race cuts something like 6% off of Obama's lead. But I've been worried that the numbers were undercounted; that many "undecided" voters had actually decided, based on race, but were too embarrassed to say so to pollsters. And now some news on that is emerging.
Nicholas Kristof raised the issue over the weekend, with his "Racism without Racists" column, in which he said:

Most of the votes that Mr. Obama actually loses belong to well-meaning whites who believe in racial equality and have no objection to electing a black person as president — yet who discriminate unconsciously.

You know these people. They're the ones who act fine around black co-workers, but still worry if there are "too many" black kids in their kids' schools. Or they have no problem idolizing black basketball players, but worry about blacks moving into their neighborhoods. They don't think of themselves as racists, and when they're asked about the election, they say they're undecided, and add things like, "there's just something about Obama that I don't trust..."
And, now, according to Politico, the problem isn't just with the "secret" racists. The public ones are starting to make themselves heard:

An Obama supporter, who canvassed for the candidate in the working-class, white Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown recently, sends over an account that, in various forms, I've heard a lot in recent weeks.
"What's crazy is this," he writes. "I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are f***ing undecided. They would call him a n----r and mention how they don't know what to do because of the economy."

This remains troubling, in part because this isn't captured by polls. The racist factor may already be factored in, as the AP said. But it may not be, and may still have a real impact at the polls. We've seen working class voters choose Republicans against their own economic self-interest for years now; in this election, they may do so yet again, spurred on by their own racism, even if they never admit it to themselves or others.

I think a lot of this was in the Rolling Stone profile, but it looks like there's more here. If I were McCain, I wouldn't be bragging about my military experience!

In his most serious lapse, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over southern Spain about December 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to McCain's own account as well as those of naval officers and enlistees aboard the carrier Intrepid.

More here.