CBS Poll: Ready For A Black President?
As Barack Obama claims the mantle of presumptive Democratic nominee, nearly 70 percent of Americans say the country is ready for a black president, a new CBS News poll shows.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans say the country is ready - up 6 points from March and 14 points from January. Eight years ago, only 38 percent of those polled said the country was ready for a black president.
Nearly two in three registered voters - 63 percent - say that most people they know would vote for a black president. But roughly one in four believe that most of the people they know would not.
Democrats (at 67 percent) are slightly more likely than Republicans (at 61 percent) to say most people they know would vote for a black candidate. Older Americans are less likely to respond that people they know would do so: Just 58 percent of those 65 and older say most of the people they know would vote for a black candidate. By contrast, 70 percent of respondents under 30 years old said those they know would do so.
Some of the largest differences are by region. Seventy-two percent of those who live in the West say most people they know would vote for a black person for president. Sixty-six percent in the Northeast and 64 percent in the Midwest agree. But the figure is lowest in the South, where just 54 percent say most people they know would vote for an African-American for president. 33 percent there say most people they know would not.
CBS News political consultant Joe Trippi, a Democrat, said on CBS News' The Early Show Wednesday morning that he believes America is ready for a black president.
"I think we are as a country," Trippi said. "I think what Barack Obama's done is every day he's gone out there, proven his mettle, proven where he is on issues and weathered these attacks and everything. He's proven that he is ready. And that's made a lot of Americans say, 'you know what? Maybe this could happen.' I think it's a pretty amazing thing."
Michael Fauntroy, a professor at George Mason University, also said he believes the country is ready on The Early Show -- though he sounded a note of caution.
"To my way of thinking, it's still an open question, though certainly we're moving in the right direction," he said.
Twenty-two percent of white voters and 24 percent of black voters say race is at least somewhat of a factor in their vote. White voters who described it as such chose McCain over Obama in a head-to-head match-up by a margin of 19 points, while they are divided between Clinton and McCain.
Regardless of how they vote, nine in 10 voters - both blacks and whites - are glad that an African American has been a serious contender for president, and nearly half say Obama's candidacy has made them more interested in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Voters are divided as to whether or not the news media have treated Obama differently - half say that they have while half say they have not.
But among those who think the media have treated Obama differently, whites tend to think the media has been easier on him because of his race, while blacks think the opposite. Most voters who think the media has been harder on Obama think this is at least somewhat because of his race. So do most voters who believe the media has been easier on him, though in smaller numbers.
Sixty-eight percent of voters think Obama's candidacy has made it easier for blacks to run for president in the future. But more than half of all voters can't name an African American they would like to see run for president other than Obama. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell tops the list of those who can.
Voters are divided as to whether there are currently enough African Americans holding high political office. Forty-five percent of white voters and 19 percent of black voters say the number is about right. Thirty-five percent of white voters and 71 percent of black voters would like to see more.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,038 adults nationwide, including 930 registered voters, interviewed by telephone May 30-June 3, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. The error for the sample of registered voters is plus or minus four points.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Sixty-eight percent of Americans say the country is ready - up 6 points from March and 14 points from January. Eight years ago, only 38 percent of those polled said the country was ready for a black president.
Nearly two in three registered voters - 63 percent - say that most people they know would vote for a black president. But roughly one in four believe that most of the people they know would not.
Democrats (at 67 percent) are slightly more likely than Republicans (at 61 percent) to say most people they know would vote for a black candidate. Older Americans are less likely to respond that people they know would do so: Just 58 percent of those 65 and older say most of the people they know would vote for a black candidate. By contrast, 70 percent of respondents under 30 years old said those they know would do so.
Read The Complete CBS News Poll On Race And The 2008 Election
The General Election
The President, Economy And Iraq
Some of the largest differences are by region. Seventy-two percent of those who live in the West say most people they know would vote for a black person for president. Sixty-six percent in the Northeast and 64 percent in the Midwest agree. But the figure is lowest in the South, where just 54 percent say most people they know would vote for an African-American for president. 33 percent there say most people they know would not.
CBS News political consultant Joe Trippi, a Democrat, said on CBS News' The Early Show Wednesday morning that he believes America is ready for a black president.
"I think we are as a country," Trippi said. "I think what Barack Obama's done is every day he's gone out there, proven his mettle, proven where he is on issues and weathered these attacks and everything. He's proven that he is ready. And that's made a lot of Americans say, 'you know what? Maybe this could happen.' I think it's a pretty amazing thing."
Michael Fauntroy, a professor at George Mason University, also said he believes the country is ready on The Early Show -- though he sounded a note of caution.
"To my way of thinking, it's still an open question, though certainly we're moving in the right direction," he said.
Twenty-two percent of white voters and 24 percent of black voters say race is at least somewhat of a factor in their vote. White voters who described it as such chose McCain over Obama in a head-to-head match-up by a margin of 19 points, while they are divided between Clinton and McCain.
Regardless of how they vote, nine in 10 voters - both blacks and whites - are glad that an African American has been a serious contender for president, and nearly half say Obama's candidacy has made them more interested in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Voters are divided as to whether or not the news media have treated Obama differently - half say that they have while half say they have not.
But among those who think the media have treated Obama differently, whites tend to think the media has been easier on him because of his race, while blacks think the opposite. Most voters who think the media has been harder on Obama think this is at least somewhat because of his race. So do most voters who believe the media has been easier on him, though in smaller numbers.
Sixty-eight percent of voters think Obama's candidacy has made it easier for blacks to run for president in the future. But more than half of all voters can't name an African American they would like to see run for president other than Obama. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell tops the list of those who can.
Voters are divided as to whether there are currently enough African Americans holding high political office. Forty-five percent of white voters and 19 percent of black voters say the number is about right. Thirty-five percent of white voters and 71 percent of black voters would like to see more.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,038 adults nationwide, including 930 registered voters, interviewed by telephone May 30-June 3, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. The error for the sample of registered voters is plus or minus four points.
The fact is that Mr. Obama''s political / religious liberal point of view is his own and doesn''t represent the religious views of many of the American people. Maybe members of his ex-pastor''s church or other non-traditional, ultra liberal church members will find it easy to agree with Mr. Obama but not many, including me. As for Dr. James Dobson, he is a man of character and has a track record to prove it! As for Mr. Obama''s track record, We The People remain clueless, UNTIL NOW.
patriot12436, as an outsider I''m willing to open a book on how long it takes for a real BIGOT of the White Anglo Saxon Red Neck variety tries to shoot his black arse, while I''m here can someone explain to me why John McCain is always referred to as a war hero, as far as I can make out he crashed his plane ,got taken prisoner, broke down under torture and gave information to his captors, in what respect does this qualify him for hero status?.
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Posted by easttx390 at 09:25 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Uh Huh?? You are are lying and it''s so obvious it''s rediculous.. YOU should work on that a bit don''t you think???
YES WE CAN!!
YES WE CAN!!
YES WE CAN!!
Obama 08
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Posted by GrammaWhamma at 04:54 AM : Jun 05, 2008
Did YOU watch the speech of McSame as well? IF you did your request to wait is NOT valid! THAT dude was SCARY and near death... it''s time for a change so get on the bus!!
Yes we can!! Obama 08
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Posted by terrorislami at 04:40 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse
Sparky YOU are getting so desperate you could hurt yourself or someone near you!! Seek help!!
YES WE CAN!! YES WE CAN!! YES WE CAN!!
OBAMA 08
All Democrats are welcome also!
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Posted by cmp271 at 12:02 PM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse
YES WE CAN!! YES WE CAN!! YES WE CAN!!
OBAMA 08!!
I am not voting for obama because i do not trust him. I think he is a racisrt and a terrorist. If he is elected time will tell. If i am right then i fear this country is headed for a revolution. I have been called a racists so many times on here but if the DNC would put a qualified black candidate up for election i would have voted for him. I still think the DNC keeps shooting itself in the foot. I hope they self destruct over this mess. I don''t believe in any political party. I think anyone who votes for party no matter what is of very low intelligence. We should be voting on issues no parties.
When I watched Obama last night as he won the nomination...I looked at the crowd behind him. The black people were so proud and so very happy (as they well should be, this was a milestone for our country)...the rest of the happy Obama supporters were young white people. Then it dawned on me...even though my generation (50 years old) has been accused, for the past year, of being racist for not supporting Obama (even when we are not)...those young white Obama supporter kids are my generation''''s children. Racist parent''''s usually have racist kids. Most of my generation is not racist and I am sick of being accused of it...we just don''''t think Obama is a qualified candidate to run this country...at least not yet. Give him a few years experience and then ask me again if I like him.
CBS Poll: Ready For A Black President?
Poll Finds That Most Americans Believe The Country Is Ready - And They Didn''t Eight Years Ago
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/04/opinion/polls/main4151937.shtml#ccmm
***,,, did we not already have a black president???
did they not say wet willy kkklowntoon was the first black president???
hahaha
are blacks playing the race card on america???
Obama gets 92 percent of the black vote
Clyburn Warns Democratic Party: African Americans Matter
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/25/clyburn_warns_democratic_party.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=democrats+against obama
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=jews against obama
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=latinos against obama
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=women against obama
hahaha
what a stinking LIAR,,,