According to the latest Rasmussen Reports’ poll, 63% of likely voters say Senator McCain is ready to be president.  Only 26% of likely voters think that McCain is not ready to be president -- more on this 26% further down.

On the other hand, only 44% say that Senator Obama is ready to be president, twenty percent less than McCain; while 45% of likely voters say Obama is NOT prepared to be president. Another way of looking at this is that more likely voters in the United States know in their hearts that Obama is not ready to be president and they are willing to tell pollsters so. This “likely voters” cohort is paying more attention to the qualifications of candidates when compared to “register voters” or the American population at large.
 
At least another 10% know in their hearts that Obama is not ready to be president but are unwilling to tell pollsters because of they are concerned with seeming to be “racists.”   This would be consistent with the perception of many Democratic elected officials who have warned Obama’s operatives that because of voters’ unwillingness to express to pollsters their opposition, which could be thought of as “racist,” Obama’s poll numbers are inflated by at least 10%.

At least another 10% of the likely voters are African-Americans who are voting for Obama primarily, if not solely, because of his race without any consideration for his qualifications.  In the normal understanding of the term “racist,” these are the true racists in the current elections. Their only and primary consideration in this election cycle, both during the primary and general election, is the candidate’s race.
That means that at the high end only one out of four voters considers Barack Obama to be truly qualified to be president.  That is less than the 26% who say that his opponent Senator McCain is not qualified.

Let us look at the likely voters’ perception of McCain. If one takes both racism and the individuals, who are afraid to tell the pollsters their true feelings, out of the equation, than one finds that almost no one in America truly believes that McCain is not ready for the job of President.

Ironically, if it were not for race, Obama’s approval to be president would significantly lower than those of Governor Palin. This is further problematic since by now most voters know Obama whereas the introduction to most people to Palin is barely two weeks old.

The likely voters perceive "unqualified" as the major qualification of Senator Obama for president.