CNN’s John King reports on the increasing power of Latino voters and the efforts to mobilize their vote.

CNN’s John King looks at whether the Bradley effect is fact or fiction.

Truong Diep, left, speaks with Vietnamese-American women Nguyen Thanh, 72, as Diep campaigns for Sen. John McCain Wednesday, in the Little Saigon area of Westminster, CA.

Jane Junn
Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University

The McCain and Obama campaigns should.

More than a third of Asian American likely voters were undecided about their choice for the U.S. President as recently as two weeks ago, according to new data from the 2008 National Asian American Survey. A national sample of 4,394 found 41 percent support Barack Obama while 24 percent say they will vote for John McCain.

Which presidential candidate will win the largest share of undecided Asian American likely voters? Much of that will depend on mobilization efforts, which could make the difference in battleground states where a few thousand votes can tip the balance.

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Senators Barack Obama and John McCain shake hands at the start of the third presidential debate.

Ahmed M. Rehab
Executive Director, Chicago Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

“I don’t trust Obama… he’s an Arab!” This was the charge leveled by a supporter at a recent McCain rally.

A visibly perturbed McCain took the microphone and gave an almost admirable response:

“No, ma’am, he’s a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with. He’s not [an Arab].”

I say almost because McCain not only failed to challenge the racism inherent in the woman’s charge but effectively engaged in the same when he suggested that being a decent family man is the moral opposite of being an Arab.

I would have loved to hear McCain say: “No, ma’am, he is not an Arab or is he Muslim – and let’s not use ethnic or religious identity to determine who is American - that’s un-American.”

This would have exhibited the courageous moral leadership and remind all Americans that bigotry and identity politics have no place in our democracy.

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Artair Rogers, second row, third from the right, is a junior Public Policy Major at Ole Miss.

Editor’s Note: Artair Rogers is a student intern for the William Winter Institute from Guntown, MS. He is a junior Public Policy Leadership major in the Trent Lott Leadership Institute and the Honors College. On campus, Artair is involved with the Associated Student Body, Ole Miss Ambassadors, and the Columns Society. Artair shares his thoughts on why Ole Miss is the perfect place to host Friday’s first presidential debate.

Artair Rogers
Junior, University of Mississippi

With this presidential debate, we as students are more aware of the issues that are facing our country and our own demographic. Many articles present a link between racial tensions and the unique history of our university. As an African-American student, I have the utmost respect for the struggle of James Meredith; he helped pave the way for me to attend this university.

However, I believe that we should also focus on what students have been able to obtain because of James Meredith’s achievement. Because of James Meredith and other pioneers at this university, I am currently a junior in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Trent Lott Leadership Institute.

My story is becoming more common among African-American students at the university. Our entire student body has advanced. Yes, we still have problems, but again, I reiterate that there is progress. The measure of progress may be hard to define, but I feel that we have an administration and a group of student leaders who are more than ready to take our university to the next level in all aspects.

This is why we are having this debate. I feel that Ole Miss is in the middle of a breakthrough, and this debate symbolizes that.

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Randell McShepard
Chairman, Policy Bridge

As America wrestles with remaining competitive in an ever-changing, fast-paced global economy, one fact holds true. All Americans must be actively engaged in making and keeping the nation competitive. The challenging economic times that we currently face require “all hands on deck” to restore our nation’s economic vitality and prowess. Clearly, this “call to action” cannot and should not exclude any demographic group. Unfortunately, there is a demographic group that is slipping further away from opportunities to contribute to the nation’s economy. That group is African-American males, particularly in the 25-54 year old category.

As economists pontificate about the 5% unemployment rate being a clear sign of a looming recession, African-American males in many urban centers in America are unemployed at a minimum of twice that rate or higher. In Cleveland, Ohio, the unemployment rate among African-American men 25-54 years of age was 13% in 2006, according to the American Community Survey. In that same year, unemployment in Dayton for African-American males in the same age bracket was 26%, a rate higher than the national unemployment levels during the Great Depression. High rates of unemployment plague urban core cities in Ohio including Cleveland, Cincinnati and Youngstown, as well as cities in neighboring states such as Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at equally devastating levels. Keep reading

Susan Chun
AC360 Producer

Debate over the N-word has intensified in the past couple years.

Remember when Michael Richards from “Seinfeld” was caught on tape two years ago using the n-word in a comedy routine? People were outraged and Richards had to apologize.

The NAACP last year held a symbolic funeral to bury the N-word. And the Rev. Jesse Jackson has called on rappers and entertainers to stop using it in their performances.
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Latoya Peterson
Editor of Racialicious.com

If calling an entire group of people the n-word isn’t talking down to blacks, I don’t know what is.

While the term may be used casually by some members of my community, Jesse Jackson has made his career of challenging racial stereotypes and denouncing those in the public eye who have used the word – including being at the forefront of the protests involving Michael Richards and Don Imus. It is a rather strange twist that “n*****s” rolled off his lips so casually - particularly in a news room setting. Keep reading

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has apologized to Sen. Barack Obama for his 'hurtful' remarks.

Carmen Van Kerckhove
President, New Demographic, a consulting firm that addresses race and racism

Watching news coverage of Jesse Jackson’s remarks about Barack Obama “talking down to black people” reminded me of a conversation I had in 2000.

I was chatting over lunch with a couple of co-workers about celebrity gossip, and the conversation turned to Halle Berry’s multiracial identity. My co-workers scoffed at the idea that a person could identify as biracial, declaring: “When it comes down to it, you know what side Halle’s on.”

At the time I wondered to myself: When it comes down to what? The inevitable great race war? Will we all have to pick a side once and for all and declare our racial allegiance?
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Editor’s Note: Due to an editing error, two paragraphs were left out when this blog was initially posted. The complete blog is now below:

Barclay Palmer
AC360° Senior Producer

From Don Imus, defender of African Americans: “I meant he was being picked on because he’s black.” That’s how the radio jock explained his comment about the half dozen arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones. “What color is he?” Imus had asked. When told that Jones is African-American, Imus said, “Well, there you go. Now we know.”

What do we know?

On the same day, Karl Rove described Obama as a “coolly arrogant” country club elitist before an audience who’d know about country clubs and elitists: Republican insiders at a Capitol Hill Club breakfast.

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy,” Rove said, according to ABC. “He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

Just picture that — Barack Obama, bi-racial son of an African dad and a single white mom, a former community organizer/Democratic vote getter in Chicago — now an arrogant country club guy with martini making snide comments at passers by? Keep reading