GOP Sees Opportunity With White Voters After Gates Saga

Washington Independent:

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 found that white voters, by a 2-1 margin, believed that the president had "acted stupidly" in talking about Gates.

Read the whole story: Washington Independent

Comments

[Michael Valentine]

11:48 PM on 08/09/2009

Is the bitter white person vote a growing demo?

[IDIOTA]

11:33 PM on 08/09/2009

Crowley seems too smart to be a GOP shill.

[mcmchugh99]

11:24 PM on 08/09/2009

The best thing that could happen for this country is if the GOP would just disappear. It has not contributed one positive thing to the country in this crisis. They have become something that just should not survive as a political party.

[iMissMollyIvins]

11:06 PM on 08/09/2009

You know the G.O.P. is circling the drain when they have to court white voters! What's next, having to court the foam-at-the-mouth Fundies?

[Icantbelieveher]

11:02 PM on 08/09/2009

Leave it to the republicans to view a causing racial division as an opportunity!

This whitey would never vote for these bigots!

[barackobama4prez]

09:49 PM on 08/09/2009

Even if they were hoping for this to hurt the prez, the polling doesn't support it. Only 40% disagreed with the remark, and a drop of 7 points is hardly something to latch onto. However, to try to make this into "us vs. them" would be catastrophic for the party of no.

[SensibleJoe]

05:56 PM on 08/09/2009

No, GOP, plenty of us white voters believe that all human beings are equal regardless of color, so you're not going to win us over by playing the race card. Try again.

[mcole]

04:58 PM on 08/09/2009

white voters are fast becoming the minority.

and what the GOP is attracting is white, southern middle age to older voters.

leaving the dems with the young, the hispanic, asian, african american, immigrant, educated, non southern majority.

i think i'm liking this scenario.

[Icantbelieveher]

11:07 PM on 08/09/2009

Dont' forget they lost the women. Republicans think minorities and women should be seen and not heard:

Sometimes I get livid and angry … We've got factions now within our own movement seeking power to dominate it, and, worst of all, to redefine it. Well, the Constitution doesn't need to be redefined. Conservative intellectuals, the Declaration of Independence does not need to be redefined, and neither does conservatism. Conservatism is what it is, and it is forever. It's not something you can bend and shape and flake and form … I cringed—it might have been 2007, late 2007 or sometime during 2008, but a couple of prominent, conservative, Beltway, establishment media types began to write on the concept that the era of Reagan is over. And that we needed to adapt our appeal, because, after all, what's important in politics is winning elections. And so we have to understand that the American people, they want big government. We just have to find a way to tell them we're no longer opposed to that. We will come up with our own version of it that is wiser and smarter, but we've got to go get the Wal-Mart voter, and we've got to get the Hispanic voter, and we've got to get the recalcitrant independent women. And I'm listening to this and I am just apoplectic: the era of Reagan is over? … We have got to stamp this out …

http://www.newsweek.com/id/188279/page/2

[shaynamadela]

08:34 AM on 08/09/2009

Obama has never apologized or accepted any responsibility for mis-speaking. Deal with it, he is human and makes mistakes. All he should have said was he had no opinion yet because he would have to look into the situation.

It is not an avoidence issue it is an issue of not "ready fire aim" when it comes to publically opening your mouth.

[noudidnt]

05:54 PM on 08/09/2009

He didn't misspeak. He was right about this cop. In fact, based on news out of Boston, Philly and Georgia, most whi_te c0.ps act stup idly.

[SensibleJoe]

05:55 PM on 08/09/2009

He actually did apologize and say that he could have calibrated his language differently. Good for him. I like a president who admits his mistakes and makes amends. I haven't seen that in the previous eight years.

[TheNuff]

06:17 AM on 08/10/2009

He did NOT make a mistake. He told it like it is. White people can't handle the truth.

[garrylee]

06:52 AM on 08/09/2009

To all that believe the Pres Obama should not have stepped into the Gates affair shoud know a little of recent american history. I remind you of Bull Connors of the south and his water hosing of a particular american people-it was a local issue -Right?. How about the sending out the national guard for children to go their local school? A local issue -Right? How abot Good Ole George Wallace, barring the school house door-Just a local isse-Right. What Obama said was right. 'Sorry, it's part of my portfolio'.

[noudidnt]

05:55 PM on 08/09/2009

Thank you. fist bump

[TheNuff]

06:18 AM on 08/10/2009

Tell it! Amen.

[Indie2008]

05:47 AM on 08/09/2009

What other group of voters would they possibly attract?

[myworld]

01:21 AM on 08/09/2009

Will they EVER LEARN????

[RockinDiva]

12:59 AM on 08/09/2009

So much for trying to diversify the GOP.

[Icantbelieveher]

06:21 PM on 08/08/2009

Hilarious!

These are the people who feel that Crowley was right in arresting Professor Gates for disorderly conduct in his own home, but they encourage disorderly conduct in public town hall meetings!

[viewfromuphere]

03:54 PM on 08/08/2009

let's just remember the wise words of another Democrat who knew something about what people really worry about...

it's the economy stupid...

slowly..maybe too slowly for many but notheless....there is positive economic news...if that trend continues into 2010...Gates may resonant but only with people who weren't voting Obama anyway..