The Role of Race in the Kansas and Oklahoma Primaries

One of the most unexamined (and most bizarre) results from Super Tuesday was the shockingly disparite results in the Democratic primaries in Oklahoma and Kansas.  Unlike the border states of New York and Connecticut who have a valid reason for going in different directions, there is no real explanation for this gap---the widest of any states that border each other.

As a Native Oklahoman, I am convinced Oklahoma's difficult racial history affects the state's ability to see Obama as a legitimate contender, and it raises larger questions about the long legacy of racism linked to states' identities.

Few pundits have looked closely at the Plains States--Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska--as indicators of where Americans are leaning.  But the  nearly inexplicable differences in the results from two states who have nearly everything in common demands further scrutiny.

I actually write about this in my post yesterday on The Weekly Rader: http://weeklyrader.blogspot.com/...
And I'd love to hear feedback either here or there.