Free Republic

You may have never thought you could get this political insight from a sports commentator, but former NBA Detroit Pistons star-turned-host of "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Network John Salley has defied expectations. Salley recently appeared on September 23 edition of "The Adam Carolla" podcast and asked Carolla a very pointed and insightful question. "I have a question - do you hate Obama?" Salley asked. "Why are so many people who now hate him after just 266 days they loved him? All of white America. Not all of ‘em but the majority."

After a summer of healthcare battles and sliding approval ratings for President Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend: The voters losing faith in the president are the ones he had worked hardest to attract. New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites -- including Democrats and independents -- who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president. Among white Democrats, Obama’s job approval rating has dropped 11 points since his 100-days mark in April, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People and...

Obama Is Fast Losing White Voters' Support His approval ratings with the crucial bloc have plunged since April. Strategists say the healthcare debate is largely to blame, but that's not the only reason. The Obama family returns from Camp David. It's unclear whether President Obama's ratings slip is based on policy or personal issues. (Ron Sachs / Pool Photo / September 6) Graphic: Poll results By Peter Wallsten September 7, 2009 Reporting from Washington - After a summer of healthcare battles and sliding approval ratings for President Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend: The voters losing...

After a summer of health care battles and sliding approval ratings for President Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend: The voters losing faith in the president are the ones he had worked hardest to attract. New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites--including Democrats and independents--who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president. Among white Democrats, Obama's job approval rating has dropped 11 points since his 100-days mark in April, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. It...

Two weeks after President Obama said that Cambridge, Mass., police had “acted stupidly” by arresting Harvard University Prof. Henry Louis Gates for arguing with them inside his home, Republicans are still taking stock of their unexpected political gift. A Pew Research poll released on July 30 found the president’s approval rating among white voters slipping seven points, from 53 percent to 46 percent, explicitly because of their disappointment in the Gates remarks. A CNN/Opinion Research poll released on August 4 found that six out of 10 white voters disagreed with the president’s remarks. A Quinnipiac poll released on August 6...

If Rodney King’s dream of us “all just gettin’ along” is going to come to pass then Obama and Henry “Yo Mama” Gates, Jr. had better dial down on the insults, faux remorse and racial rhetoric aimed at us white devils. Yep, the generational wounds of discrimination will not heal with Obama calling one of our nation’s best and brightest fair-skinned cops “stupid.” FYI to BHO: That kind of talk, thoughtlessly slurring one of our finer whiteys’ intelligence, will leave a negative mark on our Caucasian consciousness. You can say we can’t jump, or we can’t dance, but you cannot...

US President Barack Obama's support among white voters has plummeted, imperilling his ambitious political agenda. His support among white voters fell to below 50 per cent for the first time in his presidency following his accusation the police "acted stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor, A Pew research poll found that 53 per cent of white voters approved of Mr Obama's job performance before his prime-time intervention in the furore over whether Sergeant Joseph Crowley, a white officer, was right to arrest Henry Louis Gates Jr, a black studies professor. This dropped to 46 per cent in just two...

Voting rate dips as older whites stay home About 63.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters cast ballots in November WASHINGTON - For all the attention generated by Barack Obama's candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots in November declined for the first time in a dozen years. The reason: Older whites with little interest in backing either Barack Obama or John McCain stayed home. Census figures released Monday show about 63.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters, or 131.1 million people, voted last November. Although that represented an increase of 5 million voters — virtually all...

For all the attention generated by last year's presidential race, census figures show the share of eligible voters who actually went to the polls in November declined from 2004. According to the data, more older whites opted to stay home compared with 2004, citing little interest in supporting either Barack Obama or John McCain.

It’s invasive. It’s corrupt. It’s rigged. It’s unconstitutional. Its purpose is the legislative transformation of the United States of America into a land where conservatives, Christians, and Calcasians will become political castrados. It is biased and prejudicial. It serves to channel billions of dollars into bogus political action groups, such as ACORN. It promotes gay rights and same-sex marriages. It is a document that was not something drafted by the Berkley chapter of the Barbra Streisand Fan Club or the Alec Baldwin wing of the American Civil Liberties Union. It is President Barack Obama’s 2010 Census Form. The form asks...

Why does everyone insist on the GOP reaching out to Hispanic and black voters? Sure, non Hispanic whites will be the minority in the U.S. (though by far the LARGEST minority) in the 2040-2050 time frame. But there are a lot of presidential elections between now and then. If the GOP increased its take of white votes from 58% (2004) or 55% (2008) to 70% or better, then it could win virtually any election with little minority support. And why as so many claim would it be racist? Is it racist when 94% of black voters vote for the Democratic...

On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington’s African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back. “Nah, we straight,” Obama replied. The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it. The reporter on pool duty quoted Obama as saying, “No, we’re straight.” But many other listeners did not miss it. A video of the exchange became an Internet hit, and there was a clear moment of recognition among many blacks, who got a kick out of their Harvard-educated president sounding, as one commenter wrote on a hip-hop site,...

TUSCALOOSA | Don't tell Bill Maher, but the vote among the white electorate in Alabama for president elect Barack Obama was the lowest in the county at only 10 percent. From an analysis by MSNBC: "We took a look at Obama's performance with white voters in all 50 states. In 13 of them, Obama received less than 35% of the white vote. His three lowest performing states: Alabama (10%), Mississippi (11%), and Louisiana (14%). The other 10: GA (23%), SC (26%), TX (26%), OK (29%), AR (30%), UT (31%), AK (32%), WY (32%), ID (33%), and TN (34%). On the...

They have been sprouting across the front lawns of western Pennsylvania, just enough of them among the Hallowe’en ghouls and zombie decorations to give John McCain the ghost of a chance. The signs read, “Another Democrat for McCain”. They are to be found at the homes of women like Eileen Kettelberg, a factory worker who has been a Democrat all her life but will not vote for Barack Obama because she believes he insulted Hillary Clinton – and, by extension, all Democratic women – by failing to pick her as his running mate. There is another one outside Joyce Wiczorek’s...

Barack Obama, the first black major party nominee, is positioned to win the largest share of white voters of any Democrat in more than three decades, according to an exclusive Politico analysis of recent Gallup and Pew Research Center polling. The most recent two weeks of Gallup polling, which includes roughly 13,000 interviews, show 44 percent of non-Hispanic white voters presently support Obama — the highest number for a Democrat since 47 percent of whites backed Jimmy Carter in 1976. Until the stock market swoon in mid-September, Obama had never reached 40 percent among white voters. No Democrat has won...

Via Gateway Pundit this video of some of Obama's previously undeclared views on race relations has apparently surfaced...

These are Obama words, thanks to a Freeper! “How I learned to talk to white people is to not scare them... don't make any sudden moves... don't appear radical...” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2110618/posts

Barack Obama has taken a slight lead with white independent voters for the first time in the presidential race, positioning him to capture a key demographic group that has eluded recent Democratic nominees, according to a Politico analysis of independent voting patterns. According to Gallup’s weekly average of some 6,400 registered voters, Obama now holds a 45 percent-43 percent edge over Republican John McCain with white independents. About eight in 10 independents are white. Should Obama’s support hold, he is positioned to become the first Democrat to win white independents in a two-man race since the advent of exit polling....

In order for Obama to win the elections he needs to have at least 40% of the White Vote. During the 2008 democrat primaries he averaged between 34% to 37% of the white vote. From the 2004 election data 77% of the voters were white and they voted 58% for President Bush and 41% for John Kerry. Blacks made up 11% of the electorate and voted 88% for Kerry and 11% for President Bush. Hispanics made up 8% of the voters and voted 53% for John Kerry and 44% for President Bush. The remaining 4% voted 55% for John Kerry...

Not long ago, it was considered political gospel: Be wary of polls when an election involves an African American candidate, because many whites will voice support but then vote for the white opponent. Now, poll-watchers are asking whether that could be skewing the numbers as Democrat Barack Obama, the first African American presidential nominee, moves ahead of Republican John McCain. Most experts say they do not believe that the phenomenon, known as the "Bradley effect," is at work in this election. But some disagree. And if the effect has disappeared, it is not clear whether that is because polling techniques...

<p>KITTANNING, Pa. (AP) The steel mills and coal mines of western Pennsylvania helped fuel the nation's economic engine. Today, old factory shells and boarded-up storefronts stand as bleak reminders of those once-prosperous times.</p> <p>But the voters in working-class enclaves such as this still are a sought-after prize in presidential politics, and many are belatedly coming around to Democratic nominee Barack Obama.</p>

Back in the 1980s, one of the top-level swimmers in California adopted a rather unusual method of getting himself psyched up for his events. Half an hour before his race, he'd start chanting softly to himself, “I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win.” His chants gradually got louder and louder, and, from the time he entered the ready area until he took his place on the starting block, everyone around him was treated to his constant mantra, “I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win.” The strategy worked to a certain extent. His chanting often threw competitors...

DETROIT --The Classic Creations barber shop sits empty, surrounded by drunks and shuttered storefronts just two blocks from the manicured lawns of Grosse Pointe Park. The contrast isn't lost on LaVar Anthony, a young barber who speaks in riddles of race, class and politics. "What's already understood," he says without looking up from his Ebony magazine, "don't need to be explained." But when it comes to race, what is understood? And what is misunderstood? And how can it be that in 2008 - 143 years after slavery was abolished, decades after the civil rights movement - an AP-Yahoo News poll...

The personality is familiar to us all: the sweet old aunt, the loving grandfather or the generous widow down the street, each of them unfailingly kind toward friends and family but given to flights of shocking prejudice when the conversation turns toward ethnic groups to which they don't belong. Often the response is a nervous laugh, a wan smile or a hasty effort to change the subject. We assume that old people are the products of less-enlightened times; they're unlikely to change; and their comments, however ugly, are largely innocuous. Now, though, in the midst of the nation's first presidential...

U.S. Democratic Party moderates are warning that presidential nominee Barack Obama needs to gain more support from white voters to win in November. A draft report from the Democratic Leadership Council, leaked to the Washington Web site Politico Wednesday, contends that while Obama, a freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, will likely increase turnout from blacks, self-described liberals and young voters, it may not be enough to offset weaknesses among middle-class white voters, particularly men. Those votes will be necessary for Obama to defeat Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the study says. It contends that Obama hasn't done enough...

(CBS/AP) How America votes could come down to the economy, and that could be especially true in many of the so-called battleground states where voters have been hit hard economically. But a new AP-Yahoo News poll shows that race could also play a big role in how some voters make their choice - and this may not bode well for Barack Obama. According to the poll released Saturday, a little over one-third of white Democrats and independents agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, and they are less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't hold...

An AP-Yahoo News poll has found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks - many calling them "lazy," "violent" or 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. Certainly, Republican John McCain has his own obstacles: He's an ally of an unpopular president and would be the nation's oldest first-term president. But Obama faces this: 40 percent of all...

Racist Democrats could sink Barack Obama’s chances for the Presidency. A Yahoo Survey partnering with AP discloses that the Democrats are one of Obama’s biggest problems. Will the MSM pick up on this?

Sep 20 01:11 PM US/Eastern By RON FOURNIER and TREVOR TOMPSON Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) - 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" or 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 2.5 percentage points. Certainly, Republican John...

One-third of polled white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks WASHINGTON - 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" or 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. Certainly, Republican...

Excerpt

A new AP-Yahoo News poll finds that white Democrats’ resistance to voting for a black man for President could cost Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama the White House: 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” or 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...

WASHINGTON - Deep seated racial misgivings could cost Barrack Obama the Whitehouse if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo news poll that found one-third of white harbor negative views toward blacks -- many calling them "lazy", "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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" or responsible for their own troubles. The poll 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. Certainly, Republican John McCain has his own obstacles: He's an ally of an unpopular president...

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago WASHINGTON - An overwhelming advantage in experience and lopsided support from working-class and suburban whites have lifted Republican John McCain to a slender lead over Barack Obama less than two months from Election Day, a poll on the presidential race said Friday. The Arizona senator has a 13-percentage-point lead over his Democratic rival both with men and senior citizens, and a 23-point advantage among rural residents, according to the Associated Press-GfK Poll of likely voters. He's also doing better than Obama at consolidating support from party loyalists: 94 percent of Republicans...

WASHINGTON - An overwhelming advantage in experience and lopsided support from working-class and suburban whites have lifted Republican John McCain to a slender lead over Barack Obama less than two months from Election Day, a poll on the presidential race said Friday. *************** Obama leads 61 percent to 35 percent among voters under age 30. He has about a 5-to-1 edge with minorities and narrow advantages with college graduates and women, though he trails among white women 53 percent to 40 percent.

In an interview on National Public Radio last week, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean touted the racial and gender diversity of the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In what sounded like a slip of the tongue, he momentarily referred to the GOP as the "white party." Paging Dr. Freud. The McCain campaign pounced on the remark. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and chair of Victory 2008 -- and one of the highest-ranking females in the McCain campaign -- issued a statement calling Dean's comments -- as if they had been intentional -- "insulting, inappropriate, and have no...

THE MOST remarkable fact of the 2008 presidential election is that it remains a close race. Democrats have not known such favorable political terrain since 1932, yet what should be a blowout is looking like a blanket finish. The fundamental reason is white men. Like Al Gore in the summer of 2000, Barack Obama is roughly splitting white women. But only 34 to 37 percent of white men support Obama, according to the Gallup Poll's latest weekly index of 6,000 voters. In fairness to Obama, he inherited the problem. Not since 1976, when Democrats last achieved a majority, has a...

And only Only 32% of whites think Obama is "Very Patriotic" versus 77% for McCain. Another little gem. Guess which race will not vote for a black guy? Hmmmm.

The larger point of Jesse L. Jackson's criticism of Barack Obama -- if not the crude way he expressed it -- touched a nerve among some African American political activists who have been unhappy about the senator 's pointed critiques of absentee fathers and other problems in the black community. Eric Easter, a blogger on the joint Web site of Jet and Ebony, two black-oriented magazines, wrote yesterday that some of Obama's rhetoric "smacked of calculated political expediency" in an effort to win over white voters. The criticism was similar in some ways to the reaction to comedian Bill Cosby,...

White working-class voters typically aren't in vogue, with the political chatter tending to revolve around "soccer moms," the "youth vote" or other boutique demographic groups of the moment. But the late charge of Hillary Clinton's doomed presidential campaign made white working-class voters surprisingly fashionable. They'll stay that way if the important new book "Grand New Party," by two young writers for The Atlantic, Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, has the impact on the political debate that it should. In an incisive analysis of the past 30 years of our politics, Douthat and Salam puncture self-comforting delusions of both the right...

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader accused Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic Party nominee, of downplaying poverty issues, trying to "talk white" and appealing to "white guilt" during his run for the White House. Nader, a thorn in the Democratic Party's side since the 2000 presidential election, has taken various shots at Obama in recent days while ramping up his latest independent run for president. ----- The Obama campaign had only a brief response, calling the remarks disappointing. Asked to clarify whether he thought Obama does try to "talk white," Nader said: "Of course. ---- Nader said he plans to...

Over half of the American Whites consider presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a "risky" choice for the White House, whereas two-thirds believe McCain as a "safe" pick, a new survey has revealed. The survey by the Washington Post/ABC News also opens up apprehensions of the race factor being whipped up by white supremist groups as a way to stop the Illinois Senator and the first African American from entering the White House. The survey has shown that over half of Whites called 46-year-old Obama a "risky" choice for the top post, while two-thirds said McCain is a "safe"...

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy among some Christian conservative activists, Sen. John McCain so far is performing well among rank and file evangelical voters. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week found McCain collecting about 68 percent of the white evangelical vote, compared to Barack Obama's 22 percent. That number is very similar to level of support President Bush received in June 2004, when he led then Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry 65 to 30 among white evangelicals. And it's essentially unchanged from polls in March, despite the Arizona senator's distancing of himself from evangelical pastors...

The woman who shouted "McCain in '08" at the Democratic rules committee was speaking for a multitude. After mounting for months, female anger over the choreographed dumping on Hillary Clinton and her supporters has exploded -- and party loyalty be damned. That the women are beginning to have a good time is an especially bad sign for Barack Obama's campaign. "Obama will NOT get my vote, and one step more," Ellen Thorp, a 59-year-old flight attendant from Houston told me. "I have been a Democrat for 38 years. As of today, I am registering as an independent. Yee Haw!" A...

With senator Barack Obama poised this week to clinch his party's nomination for President, there are growing fears in some quarters that the Democratic party may not be choosing its strongest candidate to beat Republican John McCain. Senator Hillary Clinton has been making that argument for weeks. Now some recent polls and analysis, looking particularly at vital battleground states and support among white voters, have bolstered her case - even as Obama looks certain to become the nominee. Obama supporters reject this argument and point to his record of boosting Democratic voter turnout, especially among the young. But sceptics in...

RFFM.org Commentary While watching politics for most of my adult life, I never cease to be amazed at how dumb the two major political Parties can be. And this year may top them all for absurdity. Heading into the primary season, the Democrats had everything going their way. George Bush's favorability ratings hovered somewhere around 30%, the Democrats just came off of winning back both Houses of Congress in 2006 and, in general, during the last decade the Republican Party was doing its best imitation of how to govern like Democrats. Hillary Clinton herself had high disapproval numbers, but a...

This message is for that oppressed, neglected, passed over, bitter, gun-toting group of people otherwise known as working-class white males: You really don't matter. To all the hand-wringing over Sen. Barack Obama's alleged problem with winning over the votes of those white men, let's counter with some other facts. Obama has a lot of company. John Kerry. Al Gore. Bill Clinton. Michael Dukakis. Walter Mondale. Jimmy Carter. Just to name the six most recent Democratic nominees who lost the white, working-class, male vote. In a matchup with Sen. John McCain, Sen. Hillary Clinton does no better than Obama among these...

In an attempt to explain how race will impact Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama's run for the White House, Newsweek has created a "Racial Resentment Index" exclusively for white people without measuring such biases of non-whites.

A new NEWSWEEK Poll underscores Obama's racial challenge. Even as he closes in on the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama is facing lingering problems winning the support of white voters--including some in his own party.