New Gallup polling numbers are out for President Barack Obama, and the news is mostly bad. The president’s average job approval rating for September was an unelectable 45 percent. No incumbent has ever won a second term with an approval rating below 47 percent.
Yet, there is one bit of good news for Obama in the latest poll, and that is his support among black voters, which remains at a stratospheric 91 percent. No president in the history of polling has enjoyed such overwhelming popularity from any group. If blacks made up more than 13 percent of the population, the president would be riding high. But with the next highest approval demographic at 79 for Democrats, the black statistic is clearly an outlier.
Which brings up the question of why. Why do blacks continue to support the president in such unprecedentedly high numbers? It is a question no pollsters seem to have asked, so the answer is open to pure speculation at this juncture.
One possibility is unvarnished racism. It is possible that blacks’ unwavering support for the president is based on the color of his skin rather than on the job he has done in his twenty months in office. One could just as easily make the argument, as many have, that the president would have a higher approval rating among white voters—who rate Obama’s job performance at 36 percent—if it were not for white racism.
One might argue that blacks are more politically savvy than other demographic groups, but in a recent Pew knowledge survey, only 55 percent of black respondents knew that Joe Biden is the vice president compared with 64 percent of white respondents and 62 percent of Democratic respondents. Similarly, 58 percent of blacks knew that Democrats currently control the House of Representatives compared with 77 percent of whites. Then again, these were the only two questions in the survey relating to knowledge of civics, so the findings are hardly a representative sample of the exhaustive political acumen of any group.
Finally, there is the possibility that blacks see something in the president that other demographic groups don’t. It can’t be discounted, nor can it be proven. In any event, it, along with the other possibilities delineated above, will never be known—until someone has the courage to ask.
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Comments
It's black racism, plain and simple. Even the black woman who spoke recently at a town hall that Obama was attending understands what a crappy job he's doing.
He's stinking up the works, and blacks continue to get behind him only because he's one of them. Well, half of one of them (he's half white).
91% of blacks approve of Obama and only 36% of whites. This proves my point either 64% of whites are indeed racists or they are too ignorant to see the excellent job our president is doing.
Actually, it is neither of the choices you present. It's black racism at its finest.
I guess those same people that you now accuse of being racists were also racists when they VOTED for Obama. The sad truth is that the American people are unhappy with him. It's not the color of his skin. It's because he lied, and continues to lie.
And the racist charge just isn't sticking anymore. He happens to be a lousy president who happens to be black. Live with it.
I like the subtlety of the article. To me, Portnoy's verdict seems to be unequivocal: it is black racism. (And I believe he is right on this point). But he manages not to say it explicitly. A gentlemanly treatment of the subject.
This article didn't mention that Obama is steadily losing support amongst Hispanics as well as whites. Put simply, Obama and the Democrats in Congress mistook disgust with Republicans as disgust with conservativism and an endorsement of Democratic radicalism. I'd love to see what his support numbers are amongst those on the far left who seem happiest when most miserable.
Black racism - that's only part of it, the other part is that most blacks approve of the redistribution (read that as the destruction of white America) that Obama is doing.
As a black conservative I am disgusted with the double standard or racisim by many blacks. Many people fought and died to have racial equality in this country but many blacks fuel the racist tensions when they support Obama just because he is black . If someone voted for McCain because he was white the NAACP would push for riots. Racisim is bad regardless of who does it. True equality will happen when people are judged by the content of character not on skin just like MLK said and died for.
Mike K in Atlanta, you sound like a real bright guy. The excellent job our president is doing? Can I have some of what you are drinking?
articles like this illistrate the problem African Americans face in this country. any time a new poll comes out someone cant wait to publish it's racist findings, just shows how far we have to go to overcome and have true equality and justice. god bless pres Obama.
its black racism. whites look at job performance. to say if he was white his numbers would be higher is stupid, because he wouldn't have won the election two years ago if he didn't have the support of white voters. Fact is he lost the support of the white voters because of his job performance. Many blacks are just stuck on the fact he is the first black president so instead of judging his job performance they make excuses for him.
I think it is not that puzzling. There was a huge gap in support at the time of the election. Most people who opposed Obama in the election were white. Most people who oppose him now are white. Not a big surprise that both groups' support or opposition was consistent over time.
This is a dog bites man story. Surely there are matters more important than this to talk about? I would think so, unless your aim is to stoke white resentment with bad statistics.
Obviously, if his overall poll numbers are down 30 points, as seems to be the case, there is nothing "consistent" about his opposition. As to stoking "white resentment with bad statistics," it seems the resentment (which has spread to Latino voters--http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/us/politics/06immig.html?pagewanted=all) needs no help. Only a dupe who still believes in Obama would see this as a useless story.
Black racism is not possible because blacks do not control the world. I wish people would stop with the reverse racism BS because there is no such thing. Obama was never given a chance ever since he stepped into office, we expected him to wave a magic wand and make everything better overnight. People do not realize how bad our economy was. What about the Tea Party, people who call him Hitler, or say he is not an American or he is a Muslim. These people are trying to scare Americans into believing that Obama wants to destroy them, and some how it has worked. It is not Black Racism, It is White Racism.
What a lovely mythical world you live in. So when an angry New Black Panther is recorded on video saying he hates all white people, he's not a racist?
As for your beloved Obama, HE was the one who claimed his trillion dollar stimulus would prevent the unemployment rate from rising above 9 percent. Get your head out of your butt, my friend.
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