Why are South Carolina and Georgia predicted to vote for John McCain rather than Barack Obama in November?

As a white Southerner who grew up in the segregation era, it is obvious to me that the underlying reason is racism. Shame on us. All of our natural qualities are determined by an accident of birth. None of us chose which family we would be born into, nor the color of our eyes, our race or our gender.

Even our religious beliefs are largely determined by an accident of birth. For example, if one were born in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Islam would be his religion. In my case, I was born into a Catholic family and received a good education from the nuns and brothers who imposed a sense of discipline that served me well throughout my 30 years of service in the United States Air Force.

However, my real education in life was during my military career where I learned to adapt my Southern ways to become a team player and appreciate the talents and knowledge of all the great people I served with from 1961 to 1992.

When I left for basic training in 1961, I packed a Dixie flag, and when the drill instructor discovered the flag during an inspection he asked me what it meant. I said: "Sir, I think the South's going to rise again." I, too, had a "typical white grandmother" who used racial slurs right in front of the maids who cleaned and cooked in her home. So, I fully understand Obama's similar comment about his grandmother.

I shall use Occam's razor and shave off unnecessary assumptions about the candidates. I'm voting for Obama because he's smarter than McCain. McCain graduated 790th out of 795 students at the Naval Academy in 1958. Academically, Obama's better.