John Marzan: Black Flight from San Francisco

Michigan and Illinois to southern states. Hmmm, if African Americans are leaving black-majority neighborhoods in droves, will this force current Black Dem elected officials to appeal to voters outside their race ala Allen West and Herman Cain?

Will this be the "end of identity politics based on racial lines?" asks Richard Fernandez.

• Open thread: will demographic trends coupled with mobility eventually mean the end of identity politics based on racial lines? When does a black “multicultural” candidate essentially become just another politician in which ethnic identity means little or nothing in comparison with his economic and policy positions? Will the Democratic “Big Tent” need re-architecturing? What will the impact of these shifts be on the Republican Party? Granted that these are long-term trends, what will these developments mean for 2012?

Uhm... but what about the Latino vote? Prime example: California