Are you getting tired of the mainstream media meme that if you're white and you don't vote for Barack Obama it's because you're a racist? Or that if John McCain wins, it's because he's white and Obama isn't?
Well, on Saturday, the Associated Press and Yahoo News released results of a new poll, and the major take by AP writers Ron Fournier and Trevor Thompson was that if Obama loses, it's because of "[d]eep-seated racial misgivings" held by "one-third of white Democrats."
Sadly, like most polls this year claiming to deal with how racism is impacting this campaign, no questions were asked to determine how deep-seated racial misgivings of black Democrats are guiding their choice for president (emphasis added, h/t Hot Air headlines, photo courtesy CBSTV):
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.
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. [...]
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.
That might be so, by why did the study only address how the prejudices of whites are impacting the campaign while totally ignoring how racist feelings by blacks are entering the equation?
For instance, take a look at the following question from this poll (emphasis added):
CQ7. How much do you know about [INSERT NAME OF CANDIDATE, yellow font color]?
[LIST OF CANDIDATES TO INSERT, ASK THEM ALL, RANDOMIZE]Barack Obama
All Respondents
A great deal 9
A lot 20
A moderate amount 44
A little 22
Nothing at all 6
Refused / Not Answered 0
Whites Only
A great deal 6
A lot 21
A moderate amount 44
A little 22
Nothing at all 6
Refused / Not Answered 0John McCain
All Respondents
A great deal 8
A lot 19
A moderate amount 45
A little 22
Nothing at all 7
Refused / Not Answered 0Whites Only
A great deal 6
A lot 21
A moderate amount 47
A little 20
Nothing at all 6
Refused / Not Answered 0
If you were going to break this down by "Whites Only," why not do so for "Blacks Only"? The same could be asked concerning this question that was also broken down by "All Respondents" and "Whites Only," but not "Blacks Only":
CQ9. Does Barack Obama’s relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright (his former pastor in Chicago) suggest to you that Mr. Obama would be a better president, a worse president, or suggest nothing to you about how good or bad a president he would be?
And this question:
CQ11. Does the fact that if elected, Barack Obama would be the first black president of the United States make you more likely to vote for him, less likely to vote for him, or does it not affect your vote either way?
And this question:
How often have you felt sympathy for blacks?
In fact, when you look at the above question, why wasn't there a follow-up to ask respondents -- including blacks -- "How often have you felt sympathy for whites?"
Sadly, there wasn't such a question, nor was there a white counterpart to this question (or a "Blacks Only" response category):
How often have you felt admiration for blacks?
The same was sadly missing from the following question:
How well does each of these words describe most blacks?
Here were the words:
Friendly, Determined to succeed, Law abiding, Hard-working, Intelligent at
school, Smart at everyday things, Good neighbors, Dependable, Keep up their
property, Violent, Boastful, Complaining, Lazy, Irresponsible
Once again, there was no "white" counterpart to this question, nor was there a "Blacks Only" response category.
Why?
Was it only important to AP and Yahoo News to identify white racism and how it might impact the elections? Might it have been embarrassing to some to actually identify and report black racism and how it's impacting the campaign?
Here were some more questions asked about race that included "Whites Only" responses but not "Blacks Only":
Some people say that black leaders have been trying to push too fast. Others feel that they haven’t pushed fast enough. What do you think?
How much of the racial tension that exists in the United States today do you think blacks are responsible for creating?
How much discrimination against blacks do you feel there is in the United States today, limiting their chances to get ahead?
Although all of the things listed below are important for a child to have, which do you think is most important for a child to have?
Which is the next most important for a child to have?
That's a lot of questions to ask about racial issues with absolutely no attention given specifically to how blacks answered them. This seems especially odd given the breakdown of the respondents:
RACE / ETHNICITY
White, Non-Hispanic 69
Black, Non-Hispanic 11
Other, Non-Hispanic 5
Hispanic 13
2+ Races, Non-Hispanic 1
Hmmm. So, eleven percent of respondents were black. Why not specify what their answers were to all of the questions that "Whites Only" responses were highlighted? Wouldn't that be important given the supposed goal of the poll reported in the aforementioned AP piece:
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.
Doesn't this suggest that the poll was looking to prove a theory established by AP and Yahoo that racism is the reason the election is so close? This seems especially important given a finding in this survey the AP chose not to report:
Would you prefer that the next president be politically conservative, liberal, or moderate?
Conservative 30
Liberal 21
Moderate 47
Refused / Not Answered 2
Wow. So, only 21 percent of respondents wanted the next president to be liberal. Might this be why the the polls are so close right now and NOT racism? Before you answer, consider the ideological breakdown of the respondents:
ID1. Generally speaking, do you consider yourself…
[REVERSE SCALE FOR HALF OF SAMPLE]Very liberal 6
Somewhat liberal 17
Moderate 43
Somewhat conservative 22
Very conservative 11
Refused / Not Answered 1PID1. Do you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican, an Independent, a supporter of some other party, or none of these?
Democrat 40
Republican 27
Independent 20
Some other party 1
None of these 11
Refused / Not Answered 1
So, 40 percent of those surveyed considered themselves Democrats, 23 percent felt they were liberal, but only 21 percent wanted a liberal president. Now, look at how these respondents viewed the two candidates:
How liberal, moderate, or conservative do you think [INSERT NAME OF CANDIDATE, yellow font color] is?
[LIST OF CANDIDATES TO INSERT, ASK THEM ALL, RANDOMIZE]
Barack Obama
Extremely conservative 1
Moderately conservative 4
Slightly conservative 5
Moderate 24
Slightly liberal 14
Moderately liberal 23
Extremely liberal 26
Refused / Not Answered 2
John McCain
Extremely conservative 14
Moderately conservative 32
Slightly conservative 18
Moderate 22
Slightly liberal 5
Moderately liberal 4
Extremely liberal 2
Refused / Not Answered 2
So let's add this all up: although 40 percent of the respondents considered themselves Democrats versus 27 percent claiming to be Republicans, only 21 percent wanted a liberal president while 30 percent wanted a conservative.
As 64 percent viewed McCain as conservative, and 63 percent saw Obama as liberal, isn't it just as possible that the right-leaning makeup of the nation regardless of current party affiliation when added to the political differences of these two candidates is why the polls are so close and NOT racism?
Sadly, this seemed to escape the good folks at AP and Yahoo News who seemed more interested in proving a racial cause instead of a purely ideological one.
Taking this a step further, if the nation is indeed more conservative than liberal media members care to address, isn't it also likely that the nomination of the conservative Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate is also a big factor in the recent tightening of the polls?
Oddly, the AP didn't consider this. I guess that's because anyone that would vote for a conservative white woman is probably -- wait for it! -- racist.
*****Update: NBer clifcrds alerted us to a Sweetness & Light post concerning political contibutions made by principals in Knowledge Networks, the firm responsible for taking this AP-Yahoo poll:
GRAHAM, PATRICIA
CHICAGO, IL 60614
KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS/MARKETINGEDWARDS, JOHN
VIA JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT03/28/2007
250.00
2793058797306/16/2007
250.00
2799024579206/19/2007
250.00
27990245791KERRY, JOHN F
VIA JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC07/05/2004
250.00
24962244505RICKARD, LORNA
DENVER, CO 80211
KNOWLEDGE NETWORK10/24/2003
200.00
27039333829STREICER, JANET
NEW YORK, NY 10021
KNOWLEDGE NETWORKNEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
12/04/2000
250.00
21036874821VECCIA, E
MENLO PARK, CA 94025
KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS INC./MARKETINGKERRY, JOHN F
VIA JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC07/29/2004
300.00
24962258772
This led me to do some more research which led to the following:
HARMAN, FREDERIC
WOODSIDE, CA 94062
OAK INVESTMENTS/VENTURE CAPITAL
OBAMA, BARACK
VIA OBAMA FOR AMERICA06/08/2007 -2300.00 27931305096 06/08/2007 2300.00 27990258156 06/08/2007 2300.00 27990258156 SHOCH, JOHN F
PALO ALTO, CA 94301
ALLOY VENTURES
DSCC/NON-FED UNINCORP ASSOC 10/16/2000 5000.00 20020370801
SHOCH, JOHN F
WOODSIDE, CA 94062
DNC-NON-FEDERAL INDIVIDUAL 09/24/1997 10000.00 98032674113
SHOCH, JOHN F
WOODSIDE, CA 94062
ALLOY VENTURESTotal Soft Money: 20000.00
DNC-NON-FEDERAL INDIVIDUAL 04/28/2000 5000.00 20035761727
SOMBERG, DEBRA
SEATTLE, WA 98144
MAVERON/VENTURE CAPITAL
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM
VIA FRIENDS OF HILLARY01/27/2006 1000.00 26020262945
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM
VIA HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT02/08/2008 2300.00 28990685661
SOMBERG, DEBRA MS
SEATTLE, WA 98144
MAVRON/VENTURE CAPITAL
CANTWELL, MARIA
VIA FRIENDS OF MARIA08/01/2006 1000.00 26020830817 09/19/2006 1100.00 27020071488 09/19/2006 2100.00 27020071488
Total Contributions: 7500.00
Interesting, wouldn't you agree? From what I can tell, the principals and board members that have made political contributions have almost exclusively given to Democrats.
Hmmm.
