A white reader feels bad about voting for McCain in the presence of her black neighbors.

Email from a reader, someone who blogs apolitically and sometimes comments here:

I probably won't blab about this publicly, but I have to say -- if I thought deciding to vote for McCain in the end was tough, casting my vote in a room full of excited black neighbors was excruciating. Talk about white guilt. I burst into tears as soon as I got into my car.

I obviously can't vote for him just because it would be a thrill to have a black family in the White House, but I really did feel the historic nature of this election in my gut this morning, and it was incredibly moving. And it was a bummer not to be able to be on the side of my heart and leave everything else aside. I'd be shocked if Lieberman, who was involved in the freedom rides, etc. doesn't feel real sadness today. It made me realize that if I was black I would find it almost impossible not to vote for Obama.