Well, the pundits were wrong. White voters didn't change their minds in the voting booth. Barack Obama's victory proves that some analysts gave too much weight to race, not only in gauging today's opinions but also in judging how the American people's attitudes have been taking shape for decades.

Polls released in October suggest that Obama's recent political progress may have changed some ideas about race in America. A New York Times/CBS poll showed that nearly two-thirds of the people as