Race, Age Could Be Issues For Voters

Recent Polls Show Both Obama And McCain Have Work To Do To Convince Skeptical Voters

(CBS)  Some recent polls suggest that Barack Obama's race and John McCain's age could be a deciding factor when voters head to the polls in November.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 30 percent of voters admitting to some feelings of racial prejudice.

Thirty percent also saw McCain's age as obstacle in a recent CBS News-New York Times poll.

Like the Democratic Party primary, the November election gives American voters another historic choice - electing the first African American president in Obama, or the oldest first-term president in McCain.

Polls show both have a lot of work to do to convince skeptical voters, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.

The 71-year-old McCain uses humor to defuse the age issue, like in a recent skit from "Saturday Night Live."

"I ask you, what should America be looking for in our next president?" McCain asked with a grin. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old."

But pollsters say the reality is that age is no laughing matter for voters.

"You get a very large percentage, almost 50 percent, saying 'that's too old to be president,'" Andrew Kohut of Pew Research said.

Obama, son of a black African father and a white American mother, reluctantly speaks publicly about race. But at a Florida fundraiser, he acknowledged that it will be an issue in the campaign.

"…He's got a funny name," Obama said at the fundraiser on Friday. "And did I mention he's black?"

While most Americans say the nation is ready for a black president, past experience shows that white voters don't always reveal their true feelings to pollsters - something called the Bradley effect.

"The Bradley effect is named after former mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley who in his California gubernatorial run was leading substantially in the polls going into the weekend before the race, and lost," said Michael Fauntroy, an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University.

In a recent CBS poll, among white voters who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points, 56 percent to 37 percent.

It's a major problem for Obama, with no easy solution.

"He cannot be seen as bringing race into the discussion at all points," said Fauntroy. "But on the other hand, if he continues to ignore it, I think he has a problem."

Whatever bias may exist in the polling booth, analysts say the race for both candidates comes down to turning out their base. And, which man can pick up the largest block of independent voters.