BOYNTON BEACH, Florida: At the Aberdeen Golf and Country Club on Sunday, the fountains were burbling, the man-made lakes were shining, and Shirley Weitz and Ruth Grossman were debating why Jews in this gated neighborhood of airy retirement homes feel so much trepidation about Senator Barack Obama.

"The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel," Weitz, 83, said, lingering over brunch. "They're going to vote for McCain."

Grossman, 80, agreed with her friend's conclusion, but not her reasoning.

"They'll pick on the minister thing, they'll pick on the wife, but the major issue is color," she said, quietly fingering a coffee cup. Grossman added that she was thinking of voting for Barack Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, as was Weitz.

But Grossman said she did not tell that to neighbors. "…