A few days ago, the owner of a medical clinic in small-town Ohio called an emergency meeting with his staff.

"I can't tell all of you how to vote," the doctor told them, "but if Barack Obama wins, there will be layoffs here."

Nobody said a word.

Until later.

You don't have to go to medical school to understand that what that doctor did was wrong. And you don't need a staff meeting to let others know it.

Almost immediately, the employees started telling their families and friends about their boss's threat, and then one of those friends called me. No one wanted to speak publicly because they're afraid they'll lose their jobs, but that fear won't stop them from casting their own votes for president.

Judging from the numbers, the only thing that doctor's threat guaranteed was a mutiny.

When I first heard about his ploy to intimidate, I was stunned. Then a reader forwarded a widely circulated e-mail, titled "Layoffs."

"Dear Fellow Business Owners," the letter began. The writer proceeded to describe his strategy for targeting employee layoffs after the election:

"I strolled thru the parking lot and found eight Obama bumper stickers on my employee's cars. I have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of another fair way to approach this problem. … I am sending this letter to all business owners that I know."

Versions of this e-mail now have made their way to my inbox at least a half-dozen times. I can't help but see a coincidence in the timing, as one news source after another trumpets the unprecedented number of Americans who are casting their votes early for president.

Turns out, a whole lot of this year's early voters don't look at all like the early voters of yore.

"Typically early voters have been older, whiter, higher-income, better educated," Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College in Portland, Ore., told The Washington Post. "This year, they've been younger, African American and more Democratic."

Michael McDonald, an early-voting statistician at George Mason University, told the Post that the numbers are "shocking" and are "defying all the trends we've seen in early voting."

Several tracking polls show that so far, nearly 60 percent of those votes are going to Obama.

In light of this news, I can't help but think: Here comes America.

Democracy is never more promising than at election time, when the equation of power puts a waitress shoulder to shoulder with the president.

The doctor gets one. So does the guy who collects his garbage. I get one, and so do you if you're at least 18 and you registered in time. Every eligible American gets one vote. All that and only that.

This mathematical fact is probably why I've seen a recent uptick in nasty chain letters that claim impossible falsehoods about Obama. Just last week, I received the same e-mail more than a dozen times claiming that he is someone he is not.

There was a new twist, though, after a guy named Dave sent it. This time, many of his friends and acquaintances on the receiving end pushed back. Hard.

"Wow," Tom wrote to the entire list. "More garbage sent to my email. Please stop sending racist emails to me. In fact, remove me from your address book, Dave."

His note quickly was followed by Rob's. Rob wrote: "Delete me please please please from all your address books. Thanks. I hate this small minded stuff."

One response seemed to embolden the next, and before long, nearly a dozen people in Dave's address book insisted that he keep his hate to himself.

I sat back in my seat and realized my earlier observation has become a mantra:

Here comes America.

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House: "Life Happens" and "… and His Lovely Wife." To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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