by Frank James
Gallup's pollsters are reporting that the number of voters who say the race of the candidates could cause them to vote against Sen. Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election -- six percent -- may be offset by the nine percent who say it may make them vote for him.
Thus, Gallup is making the counterintuitive point that Obama may be helped by his race, not hurt by it as recently reported recently by the Associated Press story.
Any student of American history or race relations could be forgiven for being skeptical that being African-American would be an electoral net plus for a presidential candidate. But it's an interesting thought.
Here's how Frank Newport of Gallup puts it:
PRINCETON, NJ -- While 6% of voters say they are less likely to vote for Barack Obama because of his race, 9% say they are more likely to vote for him, making the impact of his race a neutral to slightly positive factor when all voters' self-reported attitudes are taken into account.
At the same time, 6% of voters say John McCain's race will make them less likely to vote for him, with 7% saying it makes them more likely to vote for him, leading to the same basic conclusion: McCain's race, like Obama's, is on balance neither a plus nor a minus...
The potential impact of Obama's race on the election has been the more scrutinized this year. These data, taken at face value, show that if anything, his race could be a net plus, in the sense that it makes slightly more voters want to vote for him than not want to vote for him.
Comments
I have no issue voting for a minority candidate....but I would NEVER VOTE for one who I see as having a strong history of USING THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN or RACE to ADVANCE A CAUSE THAT WOULD HARM AMERICA.
I see the history of ACORN going all the way back to the deliberate distruction of the WELFARE SYSTEM and I SEE HOW IT HAS AFFECTED THIS HOUSING CRISIS, and I SEE THE VOTING FRAUD with the PROJECT VOTE and I see the Obama had immersed himself in support of PROJECT VOTE and SUPPORT OF LOANS TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE HARMED because they couldn't possible afford them.
It's appalling to me, to see how someone would take advantage of THEIR RACE and the RACE OF OTHERS to further their own personal and POLITCAL AGENDA.
The American people deserve MUCH BETTER ! ! !
Posted by: I hope this gets posted | October 9, 2008 9:21 AM
This poll could not be more wrong if it tried. There are so many important variables that are not being accounted for that this is not even worth publishing. First, racists typically are closet people, so they would not identify themselves even in a telephone poll, thus drastically reducing the racist vote.
Second, the typical voter voting for Obama would be voting for him regardless of what color he is, and the icing on the cake (no pun intended), is that he is not white. I am voting for Obama, a white male. If asked this ridiculous question on the phone, I might hastily answer and say that yes, Obama’s skin color would be an incentive for me to vote for him, but upon further thought, his skin does not really matter, as I am voting for the best candidate.
These two massive points could not be accounted for in the poll, and thus makes this poll not even worth the time in creating, publishing, or reading.
Posted by: xcellentform | October 9, 2008 9:33 AM
Race has nothing to do with this campaign for President!, that's what one media commenter said, but that's all you hear about, race, race, race. For pete sake it's the media that is keeping the race issue alive. I don't care if the person is white, black, pink or purple. It's the issues that count. I am a white female, and you can bet if Colin Powell were running I'd vote for him.
Hey Media, Keep the race out of it.
Posted by: Rose | October 9, 2008 10:49 AM
I hope: "The American people deserve MUCH BETTER ! ! !" Right! Like four more years. How's your 401K doing?
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | October 9, 2008 11:01 AM
Rose,
What is it about Colin Powell's platform that you support? Please don't answer in vague platitudes.
Posted by: jo | October 9, 2008 11:52 AM