I will see you at the ballot box, or I will see you in Hell. We will talk about how it could have been. We will toast to how it might have been. We will have no excuse. We will look in the mirror. And we will be sorry.

If you think that there is an overload of emotion behind this election, you haven’t read the hip-hop and black magazines yet, because that would be an understatement. This month, Vibe magazine (which, as it happens, is neighbors with National Review World Headquarters — Hi, Guys! — we share a Lexington Avenue building) endorses Barack Obama in an “HISTORIC COLLECTOR’S EDITION.” Editor Danyel Smith says that she was going to end her editor’s note with the “see you in Hell” message, but decides on a calmer but no less emphatic “We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for. . . . Let nothing stop you from voting for Obama.” Vibe’s November issue also includes a letter from one Barack Obama. “We cannot wait to change the game in Washington.” “But I can’t do it alone. I need you.” Black Enterprise magazine, meanwhile, screams “Yes We Must!” from the magazine stand. Editor Earl G. Graves Sr. writes, “What were you doing when Barack Obama ran for president?” He continues, “Someday, each and every one of us will hear that question from a child or other member of a future generation whose world would have been shaped for better or worse by what we do — or don’t do — with our moment of history.” He continues, “I’m not exaggerating. This opportunity may not come again in our lifetimes. Should Obama lose this election and it’s perceived that it was African American voter numbers that fell short, there’s no way we’ll get another shot at the White House for decades to come. More than that, our concerns as citizens will be off the table, perhaps permanently.” Ebony has never endorsed a candidate in its 64 years in print, but has made a exception for Obama. President and CEO Linda Johnson Rice announces in the November issue: “At this critical moment in history, Black America — and much of the nation — are on the verge of realizing a long-awaited dream, a Black man in the White House.” Elsewhere in the magazine, The Secret Life of Bees stars Sophie Okonedo, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson emphasize the point. It’s deeply ironic that there was shock and awe last weekend when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama had to do with race. After all, a lot of Obama’s supporters seem to be putting race in the forefront. The other reasons for voting for him are for a “change.” On change, Obama is, like John McCain, a U.S. senator who is running against Washington. In this way he follows in the footsteps of Mitt Romney. (Yes, Mitt Romney.) He echoes Sean Hannity (yes, the Sean Hannity) who continues to repeat Romney’s “Washington is broken” theme near daily. On this theme, he isn’t all that unlike the maverickyness of Sarah Palin and John McCain. What makes him different? Could it be … race? Rush, in short, has a point. I can’t read the mind of Colin Powell, but I know Rush isn’t crazy. I know Powell’s “inclusive”-“ability to inspire” endorsement sure sounded like it had to do with race. And I definitely know what I’m reading in the hip-hop and black mags. This election is about race to a whole lot of people — and I don’t mean the much-talked-about but unknown “Bradley effect” voters. All I can do is cite Spike Lee, talking on the TV show Our World with Black Enterprise. He said: “He’s not Jesus. . . . Black people have got to relax.” While Lee actually was endorsing Obama, I’d take that comment and run with it. He’s not just not a messiah, he’s not even a leader for civil rights. You know who is? Ward Connerly, who right now in Nebraska is once again fighting patronizing quotas. You know who else is? John McCain, who supports school choice — to give poor inner-city parents the freedom to get their kids out of failing schools. You know who else is? Anyone who stands up against the culture of death and opposes abortion, which touches so many lives in America, especially among blacks in the inner-city. “Yes we must” . . . actually look at the issues. Not get caught up in the “moment” — even a “momentous” one, as Essence puts it in its Obama-campaign photo diary. We all need to chill a little. And ask not what the romance of Obama can do for you, but what judgment and record you want headed to the White House. — Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.