by Katie Fretland
Seventy-eight percent of blacks and 88 percent of whites say that presidential hopeful Barack Obama's race is not a factor in whether they will vote for him, Gallup reports.
However, recent Gallup polling shows that nine of out 10 blacks prefer Obama. In a race against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Obama draws the support of 93 percent of the black voters surveyed, Gallup found in a hypothetical trial.
Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport reports that Obama's popularity among black voters in not unusual.
"Gallup polling estimated that John Kerry received 93 percent of the black vote in 2004, and Al Gore received 95 percent in 2000. So it may be that black voters are making the (correct) self-observation that they would be voting for the Democratic candidate regardless of his or her race, meaning that Obama's particular race is not a deciding factor for them," Newport writes.
The poll also found that non-Hispanic whites are less likely to consider race important in deciding their vote - six percent reported they are less likely to vote for Obama because of race and five percent say they are more likely to vote for him.
However, there has been some discussion of a "hidden race factor" among some whites who ultimately will not vote for Obama because of his race, but are reluctant to admit their bias in conversations with pollsters.
Newport offers this analysis of the data:
"Blacks overwhelmingly have favored the Democratic candidate in past elections, while the Republican candidate has typically won the majority of the white vote.
"General-election voting data so far in this campaign show that this pattern is continuing this year. Race is a strong factor in projected voting for Obama against McCain (as it was in Obama's Democratic primary race against Hillary Clinton). Blacks are overwhelmingly likely to vote for Obama, while the majority of non-Hispanic whites indicate that they will vote for McCain.
"The analytic question becomes one of ascertaining whether the historic nature of Obama's nomination as a major-party black candidate will have an impact above and beyond the usual patterns of racial differences in voting.
"The data reviewed here suggest that while most voters deny that Obama's race affects them personally, many do think it will have an effect on the race overall - either helping Obama or hurting him. Still, there is no consensus on the part of the average voter on whether Obama's race will be a net plus or a net minus."
Gallup's data is based on interviews conducted May 30 to June 1 with 1,012 adults.
For more, see the Gallup poll.
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Comments
The question of race comes up depending upon who is asked.
People who are keeping a close watch on the issues and differences between the candidates tend not to even see or discuss race.
Those voting with their 'gut' and not really into the policy issues tend to see race more often than not.
I also think there is a generational aspect to it as well. That has certainly been true in my family.
I hope Obama can help our country move past this.
Posted by: Susan | June 10, 2008 9:24 AM
The thing to really look for is, will black voter turnout be significantly larger (by number of persons not percentage) for Sen. Obama than it was Sen. Kerry or VP Gore. Also we must look at white voters in the same way for both Sens. McCain and Obama. The trick with white voters will be to determine whether it is more due to a disenfranchised base or an enthusiastic expansion of a base.
Posted by: Geoff | June 10, 2008 10:09 AM
Oh sure, that's what they tell Gallup.
Posted by: Jeff | June 10, 2008 10:30 AM
Well...if your headline is correct....it looks like the unemployment number might go up again! There is a whole industry of "race baiting" left-wing members of the media, college professors and Democratic politicians that make a living off of the "race industry." What will all of those people do? Maybe they will just shift their attention to confiscating "big oil" profits!!!!!
Posted by: joe | June 10, 2008 10:30 AM
Race doesn't matter......well, except in West Virginia and Kentucky.
Posted by: Hillbilly for Hillary | June 10, 2008 11:56 AM
McCain is gonna go down hard, and dozens of Congressional Republicans will fall behind him. This is like '96, with Republicans picking a cranky, tired old war horse with no program like Bob Dole. '96, did I say? No. It's beginning to smell like 1932!
Posted by: Tom in California | June 10, 2008 12:19 PM
White are not being intellectually honest. I wish we lived in a color blind society but all too often Blacks are still judged by the color of their skin and not the content of their character. I believe that is why Sen. Obama is such a breath of fresh air. His candidacy holds the hope and promise of what America can be but has as yet not lived up to. A dream deferred whose time has come.
Posted by: chris | June 10, 2008 12:28 PM
Obama, his supporters, the DNC, the party elite, and the mainstream media have conspired to marginalize the millions of Democrats who have voted for Hillary, and they will now be using every trick in the book to "bring the party together" to further their ruthless ambitions. They will want you to forget all about the months of biased press, the biased party elite, the insults, the sexist remarks, and the race-cards. They will want you to forget that the Democratic Party now is the party that stands for disenfranchisement of the voters and the rationalization of racism. They will use any method to persuade you to vote for the man who they have preordained as the Democratic nominee. DON'T FALL FOR IT!
Whether you write-in Hillary, if possible, vote for John McCain, or sit out the election, right now, for the sake of our families and our country, WE MUST DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER to assist in the defeat of the inexperienced, ruthless, deceptive, divisive, racist black liberation theology believing, race card throwing Obama. We can always come back to the Democratic Party if and when they show a desire to respect our participation, and field an acceptable candidate.
Posted by: Fred | June 10, 2008 1:11 PM
Hooray for this news. I sure hope it's accurate. Some pundits say that people won't tell the truth on this question because they know racial prejudice isn't nice, isn't honorable, isn't ethical, isn't spiritually sound. So you never know. Those pundits been paying attention a long time. I feel it is true because first we are all God's children and then we are different colors and genders. First we are all one species. Then we have diversity. So we can learn from each other. It's really going to take a multi racial multi gender multi cultural reunion in spirit to help the planet and ourselves. Punditry notwithstanding.
Posted by: Gaias Child | June 10, 2008 1:25 PM
This is only evidence that people do not tell the truth in such polls.
If 78% of blacks truely felt that 'race did not matter', how does one explain that 98% of blacks have voted for him in the most recent primaries?
Posted by: NLC | June 10, 2008 2:53 PM
Race should not matter, and every American who votes for a candidate based on race is not allowing this country to reach is its full potential. It is true, this year is historic and will go down in the books as such, and every responsible American should vote based on the issues. If for some reason someone is not able to understand the issues, they should stay home and allowed better informed Americans to elect the next president of the United States.
Posted by: John | June 10, 2008 4:03 PM
Sure, America wants a black radical with no experience in any real work , any military service, who has been indroctinated in his politics by crazy radicals who hate this country and the free enterprise system.
Yup, sign me up coach.
Posted by: PRH | June 10, 2008 5:02 PM
The headline should not read "Race not important to voters" but rather "40 million Americans consider candidates' races". Although the respondents who said that race matters were somewhat balanced, the fact that 1 in 8 voters evaluate skin color is a big deal. A good question, that may elude a robo-poll, is "why?"
Posted by: Mike Davidson | June 10, 2008 5:06 PM
I am not sure that I found this report helpful. I am confident that race will be less of a factor in 2008 than it was in the 80's when Mayor Bradley was running in CA. I also think that racism will be more confined to a population that is more likely to vote Republican if the Democrats have a white candidate. The questions that needed to be asked are ones that will detect whether a person would be willing to discriminate on the basis of something other than race rather what they say about race and voting.
Posted by: Ron M | June 10, 2008 5:33 PM
I see nothing wrong with allowing race to be one of the issues in a race if all other factors are equal. I happen to think that as a way of countering the black liberation theology the election of Obama would be a good thing.
However my decision will be made on the basis of who can I trust to be in the White House to get us through these trying economic times. Which candidate has the right temperament to be the commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world?And which candidate will even address our health care crisis? It happens to be the black candidate so race really does not matter in this case.
Posted by: Ron M | June 10, 2008 5:57 PM
Will not vote for John Mccain or Barack Obama.
Becasue John Mccain is too old wlll end up like Ted Kennedy in the hospital
Barack Obama is too young to be president and lack of not very much only 5 year of experince as Illionis senate.
Posted by: Barbara | June 12, 2008 10:03 PM