The media poundits, Gnu, rely a great deal on 'exit polls'. There have been times when they were not reliable- for whatever reason, whether. That is one way that a 'faction' can be identified. Another would be when a certain district is heavily Chinese or Black or whatever distinct population predominates.

Otherwise, I have to say that it mystifies me too- and bothers me.

It remains to be seen what the end result will be of having a self-identified Afican-American (Kenyan-Kansan?) at the helm if conditions in the US or global economy go really bad. My sense of it - and my hope - is that tbe farther along we go, the less the President's color will matter. We already had a taste of it, imo, the other day when he held his first press conference. His color mattered not a whit; the man is articulate, well spoken and easy to listen to. SO different from the clown that has been in the office for so long. This is an intelligent, thoughtful man.