Very telling. And you're not the only one who's noticed this. I've seen it, and yesterday, I spoke with someone who mentioned it in similar terms.
IMHO, it goes way beyond being reluctant to admit you're voting for the other party. The open, free-wheeling and spirited debate that normally occurs in social and business circles at this time in an election is conspicuously restrained. There's an air of caution unlike anything I've seen before.
You know, I'm not one who subscribes to conspiracy theories, but the other day it crossed my mind that perhaps all the fraudulent votes cast by ACORN will be for McCain, so that a huge disparity occurs between the polls and the results, and Obama and Ayers can claim fraud on the Republicans' part, hopefully (for them) sparking riots in the streets and, ultimately, a race war.
That is, after all, what the Weathermen and the Black Panthers wanted for so long...
(by the way, I don't think this is the case, but wouldn't it make for a good book?)