(20-9-08) Poll: Racial views steer some white Dems away from Obama (Yahoo)

[Ellen McKinley]

The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about two and one-half percentage points.

Good, any way we can get him to implode.

On the other side of the racial question, the Illinois Democrat is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks, the poll shows, though that probably wouldn't be enough to counter the negative effect of some whites' views.

Unanimous!? That's not racist? Wake up people!

The way I see it, Obama is the biggest racist, the article should've mentioned Rev. Wright too, and that should rightfully scare any reasonable person from voting him in.

It does little justice, but encouraging to me as to the fate of this election.

The Article:

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race


-Ellen McKinley

[BillDemo]

Clearly a double standard.

They fail to point out Obama's spanish language ads which aim to incite racial hatred.

[HumbleDave]

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent," responsible for their own troubles.

Stereotyping of the worst order, though it is true that historically the Democratic Party had been the party to support slavery up through its abolishment.

The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about two and one-half percentage points.

Certainly, Republican John McCain has his own obstacles: He's an ally of an unpopular president and would be the nation's oldest first-term president. But Obama faces this: 40 percent of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, and that includes many Democrats and independents.

The pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race with McCain even as the political landscape seems to favor Democrats. President Bush's unpopularity, the Iraq war and a national sense of economic hard times cut against GOP candidates, as does that fact that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.

So in short, all the nations perceived troubles are lumped on the shoulders of the Republicans, to include the economic picture (even though Congress has been Dem controlled for two years with Obama and some Dem leaders having ties to failed mortgage giants), yet they say Obama is going to lose this election, not because of his lackluster qualifications or shady to racist associations, but because we're all being painted as a bunch of ignorant racists ourselves. Thank you Stanford political scientists for the misguided labeling and the poorly veiled attempt at coercing us to follow the path of white guilt and cast our votes not based on qualifications, but on skin color.

The worst election in my lifetime, bar none.

[reddirtgirl]

Very interesting. Time for the "racists" of America to stand up and be counted!! <sarcasm>

[HumbleDave]

I searched first, but just noticed this same article posted a few minutes ahead of mine. Please delete this double posting. My error.

Added: Thanks for the merger.:)

[hipelayne]

On the other side of the racial question, the Illinois Democrat is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks, the poll shows, though that probably wouldn't be enough to counter the negative effect of some whites' views.

Unanimous!? That's not racist? Wake up people!

They are not racist - they are simply "falling in line"! :eek::eek:

[DC_Mark]

Does a day go by without the in-the-tank media pulling out the race card?

[GaGirl]

The whole racist thing gets me so mad. Why can't a person just not like Obama and not want to vote for him because of him and not his race? I might not have agreed with Colin Powell's politics if he were a nominee but I would have likely trusted him as a knowledgeable candidate.

[Agent 00½ FL]

On the other side of the racial question, the Illinois Democrat is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks, the poll shows, though that probably wouldn't be enough to counter the negative effect of some whites' views.

We need to find a group of AA in Illinois to come out and say they are supporting McCain. We have had other Democrats come out to say they are supporting McCain, this would get people to think that they have an option not to vote Obama even if they are AA. Anyone part of the forum from Illinois?

[SugnSpicesmom]

Does a day go by without the in-the-tank media pulling out the race card?

To answer your question, nope. At least not in the last week. Every single day there has been an article in the paper about "race." It is disgusting. I guess they think it's time to try and guilt white America into voting for Obama again. I am so sick of this.

I know that there will be some people who do not vote for Obama because he is AA. That is wrong and I don't agree with it but it is their choice. Just like the majority of AA's are voting for Obama because he is AA and that is wrong also. We should be looking at the character and accomplishments of a candidate - of which Obama has none.

But, the media wants Obama to win so badly to ease it's own guilt of the way it has treated and portrayed AA's all these years, that they are willing to say or do anything to guilt everyone else into voting for him as well, regardless of the consequences to our country.

Repulsive. I'm ashamed to admit I ever wanted to be a journalist.

[foxyladi]

Very interesting. Time for the "racists" of America to stand up and be counted!! <sarcasm>

oh!!they have have been

[Kbentleyis]

This topic has worn me out completely. I would have voted for BHO, if I hadn't known of his background or the lack of it. He gave a good speech and wanted to change Washington. What was exactly meant by change and hope?

Whatever "guilt" that someone tries to lay on me, it wouldn't equal the guilt I'd feel if our country would completely collapse.

[hobbitt]

adjectives that might describe blacks, 20 percent of all whites said the word "violent" strongly applied. Among other words, 22 percent agreed with "boastful," 29 percent "complaining," 13 percent "lazy" and 11 percent "irresponsible." When asked about positive adjectives, whites were more likely to stay on the fence than give a strongly positive assessment.



Given that there are two black people in America who are in the forefront of the news, every hour, every day (well, one black and one half black), I suggest that many of the responders had the images of Obama and the Lovely Michelle in mind when they answered.

And given that there are many communities where there is not a large black population, and hence no opportunity for whites to work, play, worship, and interact with blacks, I suggest that these images of O and The L M are the only ones (other than OJ) available for reference.

In other words, this was a referendum on Obama, not racism in America.


Boastful, complaining, irresponsible, lazy. Yep. O & T L M.

[diane]

they say Obama is going to lose this election, not because of his lackluster qualifications or shady to racist associations, but because we're all being painted as a bunch of ignorant racists ourselves. Thank you Stanford political scientists for the misguided labeling and the poorly veiled attempt at coercing us to follow the path of white guilt and cast our votes not based on qualifications, but on skin color.


Well said! I agree! But they've been calling us "racists" for so long now that sadly I expect it of them---just like I expect them to spew the worse vitriolic misogyny at Hillary and her supporters and at Palin. We're all "racists" to them. It's disgusting but that's their contingency plan for when they lose--it won't be because of Obama's unqualified and his associations--they'll say it's because anyone who didn't vote for him is a "racist". Same stuff spouted by different talking heads.

[nette60]

The race issue has worn us out. The media is playing us again and has influenced this election enough to where Obama should be way further ahead. No other candidate has stood a chance. Look at what they did to the Clintons. Who started this crap? Obama has used this card from day 1 because he needed a crutch simply because he is not qualified. Plain and simple.

I am not sure how many AA's will be voting for him. However I k now that I won't. Not ever. If we are to transcend race as Obama says why does he always bring it up? This just helps to reinforce to black people that tired old argument about race. when it should be about accountability. The more I think about it the sicker I get. What he did to Hillary and how he is abusing her again. Making her campaign for him after he treated her like dirt. If the Clintons are racist then why does he have her campaigning for him.....The master of Lies and deceptions

[mrkalbo]

I feel nervous Obama will win the election. The fact that he got an excellent campaign and loyal followers liked those in the socialist world.

People who are leaning to him must think smartly that he's nothing but a PHONY who'll promise everything to get elected. Just look at his record...he don't have a core value on any issues but to go liked a wind where he can benefit from it. He cannot stand up against his own party. He voted "present" 130 times in the state senate to avoid the issues, he lacks good judgement associating people with questionable character, a 1st term U.S. Senator who spent most his time running for POTUS.

America, please wake up for the sake of our country.

[sahdMD]

I wonder if Obama and his campaign will describe them as he described his grandmother, "...a, uh, typical white person...". Listen for it at :34

Obama's thoughts

Bottom line is that here it is with little over a month away from the election and this is the new playbook, "Call everyone who doesn't vote for Obama a Racist."

I think that we need to fight back with, "It's not racism, it's being an American who has the right to choose who is best to lead this country."

[Ellen McKinley]

I forgot to add, I'm a statistics teacher but it doesn't take one to realize that most such political surveys are biased by their very nature. The people who choose to respond to it are normally people with strong political/social opinions, what about the people who didn't respond? How do you calculate them? The media don't care for them, they don't make the results interesting (because if they chose to respond the number would be so insignificant there wouldn't be an article), so why count them?

Furthermore, notice how the poll is constructed, in a way which perpetuates generalizations (what adjectives describe blacks? Give me a break! The poll in itself is racist, of course the responses would be racist - what do you expect?). People need to recognize biased surveys before they respond to it. Obviously, only people with either bias, tendency for generalizations, and strong political opinions chose to respond to it. This is terrible, don't buy into this and make people around you aware of this and other biased polls.

In fact, I'm teaching my class statistics this week, I might use this as a perfect example of survey bias.


-Ellen McKinley

[hipelayne]

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent," responsible for their own troubles


There was one true statement in this article:

Race is not the biggest factor driving Democrats and independents away from Obama. Doubts about his competency loom even larger, the poll indicates. More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.

[kpmom]

Is it my imagination or are these "racism stories" becoming more and more prominent as the election draws nearer?

[foxyladi]

Is it my imagination or are these "racism stories" becoming more and more prominent as the election draws nearer?

YEP!!!!!!

[hipelayne]

Is it my imagination or are these "racism stories" becoming more and more prominent as the election draws nearer?

Nope it's not your imagination - it is true! I believe that they have to keep the focus off the serious issues because somebody just might figure out that BHO doesn't know what the hell to do about it all!

I don't watch msm but just from articles I'm reading here and online and looking at the Yahoo headlines it doesn't seem that he is out doing so much lately as well - maybe he's practicing daily for his debates against McCain, or maybe they are just keeping him safely tucked away so that nobody can get close enough to ask him any hard questions!

[SusanfromPA]

So is only the black half of Obama running? Or is he simply that ashamed of his white half? Or is it that his "white half" doesn't help him play the race card? :rolleyes:

[michu]

This is pure, unadulterated BS and I am growing tired of this game being played. As if we didn't have enough divisiveness in this country, Obama is reinstituting racial hatred. He is setting this country back by 40 years. Shame on you Barak Obama and your obsequious cronies.

[Justmy.02]

So is only the black half of Obama running? Or is he simply that ashamed of his white half? Or is it that his "white half" doesn't help him play the race card? :rolleyes:

BO threw his 'white half' under the bus long ago. Why is there no outrage because of the statements he made in his own book about wishing he could expunge his white blood (and other such 'stuff')? BO most closely identifies with being black because of his skin color, and he has been playing off that all the time (and I'm certain the lovely Michelle helped bring him up to speed.) It also seems children abandoned by their father, particulary when they are very young) will cleave most closely to the absent parent.

[lovelikethisbefore]

Not to start an argument... but... how is Obama inspiring racial hatred because people were polled and had negative racial views of black people.....?

[abw11]

Given a choice of several positive and negative adjectives that might describe blacks, 20 percent of all whites said the word "violent" strongly applied. Among other words, 22 percent agreed with "boastful," 29 percent "complaining," 13 percent "lazy" and 11 percent "irresponsible."

Well, I think of boastful, complaining, lazy and irresponsible when I think of Pelosi, Reid and Dean. Maybe the responders were just thinking about the Democratic leadership thugs who rigged the nomination.

The biggest injection of racism in this presidential contest is from all of the people that say how important it is to elect a black president. For many people, that's it. That is all the qualification that Obama needs to have. Even Biden said it the other day. And yet those same people will ignore that Obama is a rookie politician who lacks the experience to lead our country.

Even worse, the experience he does have, and his stated philosophies, will weaken our country economically, militarily and engage us in class warfare. Obama isn't for a united America; he is pandering for votes by telling 95% of the voters that he will take the wealth of the other 5% and share it with the world.

[Bill4Hill]

Read Ellen McK post above at 9:48; Theres your eloquent answer.

[NBM]

While no longer a Democrat, I still listened impartially to Obama when he first started running (in the very beginning), and was impressed initially with his basic message and his lack of drawing attention to race.

That all changed when he, himself, started drawing racial comparisons: how he "looks different" from presidents on dollar bills, his Jeremiah Wright defenses, how he speaks 'in code' to a segment of the AA population, "typical white person", etc., etc.

Since McCain never went there, Obama tried to make it about race. His naivety and zero experience, his lack of specifics on policy, the alarming few facts we do know, his underhanded politics, and his poor personal associations all drove the nails into the coffin.

The race card is the biggest nail. Hammer meet nail, nail meet coffin.

[SusanfromPA]

Tell me how my dislike of Obama is racially motivated when three of the major factors in my distrust are Rezko, Ayers, and Soros. :rolleyes:

[jlynne]

This is a very touchy subject. As a multiracial person, I am often caught in the middle.

Some black people believe that the wage disparity between black families and white families is caused by institutional racism. They believe the solution is affirmative action -- that the wrongs of the past have to be corrected in order for black families to catch up to other racial groups. They see racism and prejudice in every aspect of their life.

Some white people believe that there is no difference between poor white families and poor black families. They share they same impoverished background so they should have the same access to education and scholarships. They see affirmative action as a preference for blacks over whites. Some white people strongly believe in the "protestant work ethic" and don't approve of what they see as "handouts" given to the black community. Others are angered when their "generous gifts" met with contempt because they are insufficient rather than with the "proper amount of gratitude."

Obama was correct when he said there needs to be a race dialogue in this country. Both sides are partially right but we won't get anywhere until we come to a solution that everyone can live with instead of yelling at each other.

The problem is everything about Obama's candidacy says if there is a dialogue (and that's a big if) that it will be onesided. Look at that stupid Dallas Maverick's player --I don't respect the National Anthem. I am black and an Obama supporter. Look at that stupid Obama supporter in Denver who was supposed to sing the National Anthem but instead sung the black national anthem. That smacks, not of equality, but of black power and black superiority. Look at the attacks on "white women" after the Sarah Palin pick. They aren't just driving a wedge between Democrats and Republicans they are driving a wedge between white women and black women. (Who looks down on a white woman voting for John McCain -- real Democrats, real feminists, and people who aren't "racists.")

It goes back to what Geraldine Ferraro said. There is a growing frustration among white people that they are being silenced -- that they cannot speak out against the racism they see directed at them. Obama is responsible for that. The more Obama supporters get in people's faces the more that frustration will grow. Obama is responsible for that. That not only plays on existing tensions but creates new ones that weren't there. Plus, all these articles on racism are designed to ensure that if Obama loses this election blacks will be at best demoralized and at worst angered into action. Obama could put a stop to this but he won't because he is desperate for the black vote to put him over the top.

Win, lose or draw -- Obama has set race relations back in this country at least a decade and maybe two. There was so much promise early in this election and its all been squandered in the name of personal politics.

[justme819]

The site contridicts it`s findings with other poll results posted elsewhere on their site!

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/wdc/yahoo_poll_race/index.html?SITE=YAHOO&SECTION=HOME

[NBM]

jlynne, that's a beautifully outlined post on how things have become.

No one single act, whether it's affirmative action, a black president, reparations or anything else, will ever change racism. The only hope is if people ever stop focusing on divisions between each other, and start trying to unify.

Obama uses his bully pulpit to draw attention to differences, drawing lines in the sand, while promising unity. I am concerned that he has and will set race relations back.

When it happens, and it will, I want the first black president to be a truly great president, and then that person will get my vote.

[Tague]

This is a very touchy subject........Win, lose or draw -- Obama has set race relations back in this country at least a decade and maybe two.


Unfortunately, this is true

[Mrs L]

WASHINGTON -Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.
The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about 2.5 percentage points.
Certainly, Republican John McCain has his own obstacles: He's an ally of an unpopular president and would be the nation's oldest first-term president. But Obama faces this: 40 percent of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, and that includes many Democrats and independents.
More than a third of all white Democrats and independents — voters Obama can't win the White House without — agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have such views.
Such numbers are a harsh dose of reality in a campaign for the history books. Obama, the first black candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, accepted the Democratic nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, a seminal moment for a nation that enshrined slavery in its Constitution.
"There are a lot fewer bigots than there were 50 years ago, but that doesn't mean there's only a few bigots," said Stanford political scientist Paul Sniderman who helped analyze the exhaustive survey.
The pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race with McCain even as the political landscape seems to favor Democrats. President Bush's unpopularity, the Iraq war and a national sense of economic hard times cut against GOP candidates, as does that fact that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.
The findings suggest that Obama's problem is close to home — among his fellow Democrats, particularly non-Hispanic white voters. Just seven in 10 people who call themselves Democrats support Obama, compared to the 85 percent of self-identified Republicans who back McCain.
The survey also focused on the racial attitudes of independent voters because they are likely to decide the election.
Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown.
Not all whites are prejudiced. Indeed, more whites say good things about blacks than say bad things, the poll shows. And many whites who see blacks in a negative light are still willing or even eager to vote for Obama.
On the other side of the racial question, the Illinois Democrat is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks, the poll shows, though that probably wouldn't be enough to counter the negative effect of some whites' views.
Race is not the biggest factor driving Democrats and independents away from Obama. Doubts about his competency loom even larger, the poll indicates. More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.
Three in 10 of those Democrats who don't trust Obama's change-making credentials say they plan to vote for McCain.
Still, the effects of whites' racial views are apparent in the polling.
Statistical models derived from the poll suggest that Obama's support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice.
But in an election without precedent, it's hard to know if such models take into account all the possible factors at play.
The AP-Yahoo poll used the unique methodology of Knowledge Networks, a Menlo Park, Calif., firm that interviews people online after randomly selecting and screening them over telephone. Numerous studies have shown that people are more likely to report embarrassing behavior and unpopular opinions when answering questions on a computer rather than talking to a stranger.
Other techniques used in the poll included recording people's responses to black or white faces flashed on a computer screen, asking participants to rate how well certain adjectives apply to blacks, measuring whether people believe blacks' troubles are their own fault, and simply asking people how much they like or dislike blacks.
"We still don't like black people," said John Clouse, 57, reflecting the sentiments of his pals gathered at a coffee shop in Somerset, Ohio.
Given a choice of several positive and negative adjectives that might describe blacks, 20 percent of all whites said the word "violent" strongly applied. Among other words, 22 percent agreed with "boastful," 29 percent "complaining," 13 percent "lazy" and 11 percent "irresponsible." When asked about positive adjectives, whites were more likely to stay on the fence than give a strongly positive assessment.
Among white Democrats, one-third cited a negative adjective and, of those, 58 percent said they planned to back Obama.
The poll sought to measure latent prejudices among whites by asking about factors contributing to the state of black America. One finding: More than a quarter of white Democrats agree that "if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites."
Those who agreed with that statement were much less likely to back Obama than those who didn't.
Among white independents, racial stereotyping is not uncommon. For example, while about 20 percent of independent voters called blacks "intelligent" or "smart," more than one third latched on the adjective "complaining" and 24 percent said blacks were "violent."
Nearly four in 10 white independents agreed that blacks would be better off if they "try harder."
The survey broke ground by incorporating images of black and white faces to measure implicit racial attitudes, or prejudices that are so deeply rooted that people may not realize they have them. That test suggested the incidence of racial prejudice is even higher, with more than half of whites revealing more negative feelings toward blacks than whites.
Researchers used mathematical modeling to sort out the relative impact of a huge swath of variables that might have an impact on people's votes — including race, ideology, party identification, the hunger for change and the sentiments of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's backers.
Just 59 percent of her white Democratic supporters said they wanted Obama to be president. Nearly 17 percent of Clinton's white backers plan to vote for McCain.
Among white Democrats, Clinton supporters were nearly twice as likely as Obama backers to say at least one negative adjective described blacks well, a finding that suggests many of her supporters in the primaries — particularly whites with high school education or less — were motivated in part by racial attitudes.
The survey of 2,227 adults was conducted Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.—http://news.aol.com/article/poll-racial-misgivings-of-whites-an/182011?cid=12

[Strongwomenrock]

That was certainly true of the Dixie-crats. There's no way they'll vote for him.

[YourAussieFriend]

A recent Rasmussen poll showed IF Colin Powell was running against McCain - he would win easily -
BO (every time I type those two keys, I think of body odor) oh boy, there are so many adjectives to describe this person and all of them negative - his connections, his associates etc. etc.
My guess is people mistrust him - he is creepy

[samurai007]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803840/

Poll: Racial views steer some away from Obama
One-third of polled white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks

updated 8:04 a.m. PT, Sat., Sept. 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

The poll, conducted with Stanford University, suggests that the percentage of voters who may turn away from Obama because of his race could easily be larger than the final difference between the candidates in 2004 — about two and one-half percentage points.

Certainly, Republican John McCain has his own obstacles: He's an ally of an unpopular president and would be the nation's oldest first-term president. But Obama faces this: 40 percent of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, and that includes many Democrats and independents.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

'Less likely to vote for Obama'
More than a third of all white Democrats and independents — voters Obama can't win the White House without — agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have such views.

Such numbers are a harsh dose of reality in a campaign for the history books. Obama, the first black candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, accepted the Democratic nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, a seminal moment for a nation that enshrined slavery in its Constitution.

"There are a lot fewer bigots than there were 50 years ago, but that doesn't mean there's only a few bigots," said Stanford political scientist Paul Sniderman who helped analyze the exhaustive survey.

The pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race with McCain even as the political landscape seems to favor Democrats. President Bush's unpopularity, the Iraq war and a national sense of economic hard times cut against GOP candidates, as does that fact that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.

Issue among Democrats
The findings suggest that Obama's problem is close to home — among his fellow Democrats, particularly non-Hispanic white voters. Just seven in 10 people who call themselves Democrats support Obama, compared to the 85 percent of self-identified Republicans who back McCain.

The survey also focused on the racial attitudes of independent voters because they are likely to decide the election.

Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown.

Not all whites are prejudiced. Indeed, more whites say good things about blacks than say bad things, the poll shows. And many whites who see blacks in a negative light are still willing or even eager to vote for Obama.

On the other side of the racial question, the Illinois Democrat is drawing almost unanimous support from blacks, the poll shows, though that probably wouldn't be enough to counter the negative effect of some whites' views.

Race is not the biggest factor driving Democrats and independents away from Obama. Doubts about his competency loom even larger, the poll indicates. More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.

Three in 10 of those Democrats who don't trust Obama's change-making credentials say they plan to vote for McCain.

Still, the effects of whites' racial views are apparent in the polling.

Statistical models derived from the poll suggest that Obama's support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice.

But in an election without precedent, it's hard to know if such models take into account all the possible factors at play.

The AP-Yahoo poll used the unique methodology of Knowledge Networks, a Menlo Park, Calif., firm that interviews people online after randomly selecting and screening them over telephone. Numerous studies have shown that people are more likely to report embarrassing behavior and unpopular opinions when answering questions on a computer rather than talking to a stranger.

Other techniques used in the poll included recording people's responses to black or white faces flashed on a computer screen, asking participants to rate how well certain adjectives apply to blacks, measuring whether people believe blacks' troubles are their own fault, and simply asking people how much they like or dislike blacks.

"We still don't like black people," said John Clouse, 57, reflecting the sentiments of his pals gathered at a coffee shop in Somerset, Ohio.

Word association
Given a choice of several positive and negative adjectives that might describe blacks, 20 percent of all whites said the word "violent" strongly applied. Among other words, 22 percent agreed with "boastful," 29 percent "complaining," 13 percent "lazy" and 11 percent "irresponsible." When asked about positive adjectives, whites were more likely to stay on the fence than give a strongly positive assessment.

Among white Democrats, one-third cited a negative adjective and, of those, 58 percent said they planned to back Obama.

The poll sought to measure latent prejudices among whites by asking about factors contributing to the state of black America. One finding: More than a quarter of white Democrats agree that "if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites."

Those who agreed with that statement were much less likely to back Obama than those who didn't.

Among white independents, racial stereotyping is not uncommon. For example, while about 20 percent of independent voters called blacks "intelligent" or "smart," more than one third latched on the adjective "complaining" and 24 percent said blacks were "violent."

Nearly four in 10 white independents agreed that blacks would be better off if they "try harder."

The survey broke ground by incorporating images of black and white faces to measure implicit racial attitudes, or prejudices that are so deeply rooted that people may not realize they have them. That test suggested the incidence of racial prejudice is even higher, with more than half of whites revealing more negative feelings toward blacks than whites.

The Clinton factor
Researchers used mathematical modeling to sort out the relative impact of a huge swath of variables that might have an impact on people's votes — including race, ideology, party identification, the hunger for change and the sentiments of Sen. Hillary Clinton's backers.

Just 59 percent of her white Democratic supporters said they wanted Obama to be president. Nearly 17 percent of Clinton's white backers plan to vote for McCain.

Among white Democrats, Clinton supporters were nearly twice as likely as Obama backers to say at least one negative adjective described blacks well, a finding that suggests many of her supporters in the primaries — particularly whites with high school education or less — were motivated in part by racial attitudes.

The survey of 2,227 adults was conducted Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

Looks like they are tired of trying to woo PUMAs with sweet words and promises and have now turned to calling all of them racists, and prepping to lay the blame on "racism" if/when Obama loses.

You know what's really funny? They very question they asked to "prove racism" is in itself racist! Think about it... the question basically asks "If a black person works hard, can they succeed as well as a white person?" If you answered yes to that question, they say you are racist! If you answered no, that blacks are inherently incapable of succeeding as well as whites due to either lesser natural abilities or pervasive societal racism, then you were deemed not racist! They have it backwards!

[Agent 00½ FL]

I give up!:eek:

Buried in the article is this quote:

Race is not the biggest factor driving Democrats and independents away from Obama. Doubts about his competency loom even larger, the poll indicates. More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.

Three in 10 of those Democrats who don't trust Obama's change-making credentials say they plan to vote for McCain.

[ssmith]

I'm not white and a hillary dem now voting for McPalin...

does this mean I am a racist ?

[nette60]

I give up!:eek:

My sentiments exactly....People have a right to vote however they want...How the heck do they know Clinton supporters from any others?..more propaganda to blame on Hillary.....As we all know this forum is composed of many ethnic groups and many AA's as well. We don't need the media perpetuating this crap to keep us divided in this country. They are the ones that keep racism going in this country.

[efemall]

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-race-in-america;_ylt=Ap0DzFkPbFUWoLmc2r0SE5xsnwcF

Stanford University political scientist Paul Sniderman said that in today's society, racial prejudice "is a deep challenge, and it's one that Americans in general, and for that matter, political scientists, just haven't been ready to acknowledge fully."

For minority candidates such as Obama, he said, "there's a penalty for prejudice, and it's not trivial." If the presidential contest remains close, he said, racial prejudice "might be enough to tip the election."

More
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gehjsXjRU6cEer94pOkWWCmJEOAAD93B2O300

Poll: Racial misgivings of Dems an Obama issue

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

[Linda C]

There will be people in this country who will not vote for an AA candidate just like there are those who will not vote for a woman or vote for an old man.

People who will not vote for an AA candidate will never be convinced to do so. However, playing the race card really ticks off allot of people.

[Charlie Brown]

Whatever...Blame whitey....:rolleyes:

[BillDemo]

Media seems to be forgetting a large demographic - African Americans who will vote for a black person rather than a white person. For some reason, all these "race" articles in the media neglect to mention anything about that.

Here's the story the AP should be addressing: "Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost John McCain the White House if the election is close..."

[Ebinger]

This article is talking about white Democrats who aren't going to vote for Obama. The MSM realizes the messiah could very well lose, so they're setting the backdrop.

one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

By that standard, I'm a racist as well - I AM responsible for most of my own problems.:rolleyes:

But this is just more of the race-baiting the Obama bots do - if this party were really THAT racist, the DNC shouldn't have selected him.

[Lillie]

If Obama loses, it will be because the people of this country saw through the sleazy campaign and decided not to vote for him.

There were record turnouts in state after state voting for both Obama and Hillary. If he is able to convince enough Dem voters that he should be POTUS he wins. The problem is that many of us have no intention of voting for him because of who he is as a CANDIDATE. NOT because of the color of his skin.

[Charlie Brown]

BO threw his 'white half' under the bus long ago. Why is there no outrage because of the statements he made in his own book about wishing he could expunge his white blood (and other such 'stuff')? BO most closely identifies with being black because of his skin color, and he has been playing off that all the time (and I'm certain the lovely Michelle helped bring him up to speed.) It also seems children abandoned by their father, particulary when they are very young) will cleave most closely to the absent parent.

So true they do attract to the absent parent....:confused:

[Mike78]

One thing to consider and something that Rush brought up this morning, the MSM has set this up to be the fault of "racist democrats". If Obama loses, it's not his fault or due to his inexperience, it's all your fault. You couldn't possibly make a rational decision about the candidates because you're racist. This isn't about pointing the finger at the big bad racist republicans this time, this is a direct attack on the dems who don't feel that Obama is ready to lead.

The only campaign that is making race an issue is the Obama campaign, noone else has mentioned race as a factor and noone associated with the McCain campaign has made racist comments. The media is so in the tank for Obama that they are in shock that he hasn't pulled away with this election. If he doesn't win, the only thing it could be is racism. And you people aren't smart enough to realize it or "open minded" enough to overcome it. :rolleyes:

That's total bunk. It's this type of nonsense and BS arguments that hurt legitimate victims of racism and bigotry.

[PA_Voter]

There will be people in this country who will not vote for an AA candidate just like there are those who will not vote for a woman or vote for an old man.

People who will not vote for an AA candidate will never be convinced to do so. However, playing the race card really ticks off allot of people.

Yep, I personally have many reasons for not voting for BHO, and race never entered the picture. And shouldn't they notice the disproportionate number of AAs voting for BHO? Doesn't anyone believe that may offset the % of whites that may want to vote for a white candidate?

[Leekosagrios]

Why couldn't the article title have read:

"Poll: Racial views steer some black Dems away from McCain"?

With 90% of blacks voting for Obama, that's a clear racial divide there.

[efemall]

they cant bring themselves into admitting the real reason why democrats arent "falling in line" and voting for Obama, so they fabricate the racism charge, and create a "study" to verify this...

The execution already took place, now comes the trial.

[DC_Mark]

Hey guys, I actually discovered an interesting trend while looking through the Rasmussen poll crosstabs. First, the unsurprising part--among African Americans in uncompetitive states:

MD: 93% Obama, 1% McCain (8/18)
AL: 98% Obama, 1% McCain (8/4)
DE: 99% Obama, 1% McCain (9/13)
NY: 99% Obama, 0% McCain (9/16)

When their votes are meaningless, AA voters choose the "symbolic" candidate. It gets interesting when we look at competitive states:

MI: 89% Obama, 9% McCain (9/10)
PA: 71% Obama, 28% McCain (9/14) [identified as "non-white"]
OH: 74% Obama, 26% McCain (9/14) [identified as "non-white"]

If we look at the exit polls in 2004, McCain is doing about as well as Bush in Michigan (10%), but he is outperforming Bush in Ohio and Pennsylvania (around 23% among non-whites). And Bush actually had a decent year with black votes in 2004 for a Republican.

What is even more interesting is that McCain seems to be gaining serious ground among AA. Back in mid-August, his black support was only 1% in Pennsylvania and Michigan and 7% in Ohio.

[philmwri]

I'm african-american and i'm not the least bit suprised that McCain is doing so well with non-whites in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

[Ellen McKinley]

If Obama loses, it will be because the people of this country saw through the sleazy campaign and decided not to vote for him.

I wonder if that's what the media would say if he loses. Or would they just jump on the "racist America" bandwagon? Nooooooo, they wouldn't do that!

-Ellen McKinley.

[philmwri]

Well he is only encouraging racists to vote for McCain by using reverse racism himself.