They're not exactly rooting for Barack Obama, but prominent white supremacists anticipate a boost to their cause if he becomes the first black president. His election, they say, would trigger a backlash — whites rising up, a revolution of sorts — that they think is long overdue.

Barrett is convinced Democrat Obama will defeat Republican John McCain in November. And that could cause an upheaval, Barrett, a leader in the Nationalist Movement, told The Associated Press in an interview at his rural Mississippi home. While most Americans have little or no direct contact with white supremacists, organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center keep close tabs; the law center estimates some 200,000 people nationwide are active in such groups. These observers think the prospect of a white revolution is fantasy.

"Instead of this so-called civil rights bill, for example, that says you have to give preferences to minorities, I think the American people are going — once they see the 'Obamanation' — they're going to demand a tweaking of that and say, 'You have to put the majority into office,'" Barrett said.

However, former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, a white Democrat who served on President Clinton's commission on racial reconciliation, doesn't foresee widespread white backlash if Obama is elected.

"We are a diverse country," said Winter, who supports Obama. "We are made up of people of every conceivable racial background."