Poll: Does Clinton Have A Problem With Black Voters?

A recent poll from Rasmussen suggests that the Democrats' problem in November might not be white voters, but black voters. From the internals of today's Rasmussen poll (sub. req.):

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows John McCain attracting 46% of the vote while Barack Obama also earns 46%. In a match-up with Hillary Clinton, it's McCain 47%, Clinton 45%. Among White voters, McCain leads Obama by twelve and Clinton by eleven. Among African-American voters, Obama dominates but Clinton attracts just 59% support.

While both Democrats hold equal numbers among white voters, the big discrepancy comes from black voters. Two caveats should be considered. First, the Rasmussen write-up does not include a similar breakout for Hispanic voters, where Clinton has historically outperformed Obama. Second, this attitude might be reflective more of the heated contest underway than the future preferences of black voters.

Do you think a Clinton nominee would have problems reconciling with black voters in November? Let us know in the comments.

Comments

[Pammy1151]

I so hope this blog is a true representation of how the voting public really feels. Especially the AA community. I believe that they as a voting block have every right to feel as if the Clinton's have deserted them. First, I think the Clinton's have shown their true colors. Often we do learn about people until after the fact. I supported Bill and took up for him through his mess in the White House vigoriously. I never liked Hillary from Day 1 of his running for president. I saw through her then and see through her now. I will stay home if she is the candidate or write in Obama's name and not feel a ounce of guilt for doing it. That is if she steals the election which is "as far as I know" the only way she can become the nominee at this point.

[ceasenake]

Duh! As long as she's:

A) Running against a black guy. or ...

B) Just defeated a black guy in a close primary, she's going to have a problem.

[LittleSanityLeft]

Yeah, that's it. The black community has a problem with Hillary because she's white. Not because she's a liar. Not because of Bill Clinton's Jesse Jackson statement. Not because of attempts by her campaign to imply that Obama dealt cocaine. Not because of her "Of course he's not a Muslim...as far as I know' comment. Not because of her leaking the photo of Obama in African garb. Not because she insulted his faith, and blacks certainly wouldn't of taken offense to the way she whores after the blue collar voters as if their vote is more important to a Democratic win in November then securing the black vote.

Yup. You've got it all figured out, ceasenake.

[madkey]

Hillary Clinton has been talking about universial healthcare for 16 years since she was first lady. What makes any of you think she is going to do more than talk about Universial healthcare if she's president. Especially if insurance companies are contributing to her campaign.

[lindaqqq]

Hillary's problem with black voters is that they will stay home if she steals the nomination from Barack.
Everyone talks about the racists staying home if Obama gets the nomination, this will be nothing in comparison to disenfranchised blacks.

[madkey]

I'm black and I might vote for Hillary Clinton if Obama is not the nominee if I see she's losing to John Mccain because John Mccain has no clue about the economy whatever plans he's coming up with are from strategist. We need a president that has a great deal of knowledge of the economy. John Mccain is a war president he's been changing his tune lately because he recently found out the war in Iraq for 100 years is not popular. Whatever John Mccain say's to get elected he'll do exactly the opposite. He's pro war and that' all he interested in thats all he was talking about and he's just trying to compete with the democrats. Hillary Clinton is not going to do anything. She will stabilize the economy but we need much more. Obama has been hones about what he can and cannot do. Hillary supported Nafta, now she's running for president she's against it. We know she lies because she lied about her own experience about Bosnia. I don't think we can trust her. She always say we roll up our sleeves and get to work, than why is it 16 years later and she's still talking about universial healthcare? Obama 08

[missjabez]

I am white, but the Clintons have lost my vote. And I say the Clintons, not Hillary Clinton, because it's clear Bill Clinton would be a very interfering First Gentleman if, God help us, Hilary is elected. I never thought I would live to see the day that a Democratic candidate would seek victory by using such low and disgusting tactics. Hillary has belittled and condescended to Obama;he is as good as she is and even better. Even if he weren't, nobody deserves such treatment. AAs, you are not alone. If Clinton steals the nomination--and that's entirely possible since the Democratic leadership is so weak--this lifelong Democrat will either stay home or vote for Nader.

[stell]

Could there be a subliminal message in this picture. I don't think it is merely coincidental. The message appears to be: Look at my wedding ring (she's resting on in and has it in plain view) and a black person' smind is supposed to make the association with Bill Clinton: You dumb blacks my husband was the "first black President," don't you remember all that he did for black people? And by extension you are to vote for me.

[AC500]

Hillary needs to be held to the same standard of win in North Carolina (a state tailor made for Obama) as Obama was held to in Penn. (a state tailor made for Hillary). We need to compare all margins of the vote in North Carolina against how they stacked up in Penn. Can Hillary win North Carolina? If not, does she hold Obama to a single digit win there? How much has she cut into any advantage he might have had going in?

[MRb1000]

AMERICA I IT IS ALL OVER!!!!!! HILLARY LOST THE BLACK VOTE!

SHE WILL NEVER GET IT BACK. BLACK PEOPLE ARE A FORGIVING PEOPLE, BUT WE DO NOT FORGET!! BILL AND HILLARY HAD THIS WRAPE UP UNTIL THEY PLAYED THAT RACE CARD. I HAD MANY FREIND WERE WITH THEM TO THE END UNTIL HILLARY AND BILL MADE THE GAFF!! HILLARY HAD THE BLACK VOTE SPLIT. SHE DID NOT TRUST THE BLACK VOTE. SHE FORGETS WE SERVE ON JURYS EVERY DAY AND MAKE SOUND DECISIONS BLINDLY. HER CALCULATION WAS WRONG!!!!!!! GAME OVER HILLARY YOU LOSE.

[MRb1000]

Hillary and Bill Clinton did the most stupid thing by saying somethings about Barack Obama that did not need to be stated. They used pure bigotry to gain the white women vote. This was a pure political move. It was cold, calculating and triangulating. They though no one would bring this up, but the news media was listen with a few viewers. When it was brought to the African American attention, we were very unhappy with kind of rhetoric. The first thing came to my mind was how the black caucus came to his side during the Sex Gate. Hillary and Bill were all alone. They were about to receive the call from the senate until the Black Caucus showed up in public with him. Now, how quickly they have forgotten what took place after sex gate. Now, they are saying how dare you say this about us. i just cannot believe how Hillary and Bill Clinton care about one thing is themselves.

[lotuslike]

Yeah, she does have a problem...a BIG one. And it didn't start out that way. She had close to 80% of the African American vote before she and her surrogates (Bill, Shaheen, Cuomo, etc) began a steady campaign of disrespecting and diminishing black people in an effort to scare up votes from other constituencies. What's even worse than that is her arrogant, entitled assumption that we will naturally embrace her in the end if she is the superdelegate's nominee. I'm not into rewarding abuse...I will vote for the progressive Green party candidate, instead. And then after the GE, this lifelong Democrat will officially become an Independent.

So, yeah...Hillary has a huge problem...and it's not just black folks. Alienated youth voters, progressive voters and many Independents are absolutely turned off by her tactics. Let's see how well she does without ALL of us.

[durant]

Whether or not Hillary Clinton has a problem with black voters now, she'll have a HUGE problem if she somehow manages to wrest the nomination away from Obama in spite of being the runner-up in pledged delegates. (She--and the Democratic Party--will have a problem with some of us white voters, too.)

[strifeknot]

People with a IQ above 60 have a problem with Clinton.

[kenjisan]

I agree unequivocally 100%

[TucsonKK]

The Clintons have been acting like Gutter-Trash- They have used Muslim,Race,White Working Class,new rules for DNC,Bragging about more white votes,Obama doesn't care about poor whites,Lies,snipper fire,NAFTA,Trade deals,Earing 10million in 24 hours,Can't pay her bills,acting just like a REP.,Bombing Iran,Claiming credit for S-Chip,- everything she says is a LIE!!!

Bill said that she was 60 and forgetfull-maybe she is just to old!!

Now debate on back of flatbed truck Is she a woman or Gutter-Trash?

She has no class and only cares about POWER & CONTROL!

Does anyone want Lover-Boy Bill back in Power?

Obama is the Hope to change this Country.

I am a 55year old educated "White" Woman and and everyone I know and my family all LOVE OBAMA!

[lisakaz2]

McCain must think so since he is trying to appeal for AA votes. Considering that Bill Clinton received AA support to win and it might be a wash for HRC (or AA voters might disengage entire or, maybe like me, write in Obama if it comes to that), I think she is in trouble. Her head-in-the-sand devotees don't want to see it but it's very possible her vulnerability here is sizable.

[punkingale]

Why is Obama's picture above an article about Hillary's endorsement?

[dollars2donuts]

Yes Hillary will have a HUGE problem with black voter is she is the nominee. However, I now want her to get it not because I want to vote for her or because I like her but because I don't want to see Obama shredded in the GE or have to sit through months of a racist GOP campaign, which is 100% going to happen if he wins the nomination. I rather have satisfaction of seeing her grovel for black votes, but I doubt if many will forgive her to be honest. There were waaayy too many evil dog-whistle comments they & especially surrogates have made to be made up for with a little kissy face and "remember Bill, your brother" BS. Let's see, Bob Johnson, Billy Shaheen, Geraldine Ferraro, Bill "Jesse won too" Clinton, "as far as I know", calling him a drug dealer, etc. etc. etc. Let her hold the poisoned chalice in Denver and let's see what she does with it.

[Arleen1]

That is a wrong reason to vote for her. I think we should vote for Obama because he can handle his blackness. He has always been black. If she gets the nomination, it is a pass for McCain to be selected as president. That we can't have at all cost.

[dollars2donuts]

I'm not voting for her. I voted for BO in the primary, but in the GE would probably vote for Cynthia McKinney (Green Party) and you can be sure that among AA's I probably would not be the only one voting for McKinney should Hill be the Dem nominee. That being said, I still want her to win her poisoned chalice just so the Dem party can be taught a lesson, which is: you don't throw your most loyal demographic under the bus. They did it to us in 2000 and 2004, 3 strikes and you're out! And again, that's why I'm leaving the Dem party and becoming an independent b/c I'm tired of the Dem Party's mess, they have no courage, and they're letting the first serious AA candidate be racially swift boated BY OUR OWN PARTY.

[dollars2donuts]

"voters if she is" sorry about the typos!! LOL

[CLMMIT]

I am a 65 y/o African American grandmother with five adult children and 21 grandchildren. They are all registered voters. We all have a problem with voting for Hillary. If she is the nominee we will not vote for her; we have discussed that. We will sit out this election. We will probably become independents after the general election. Hillary actually believes that she is entitled to the White House. Fifthteen of my grandchildren are first time voters; they are very exicted about the General election, however, it will be a dissapointment to them if Obama is not the nominee. They have registered a lot of their friend to vote. Every weekend they are at the local supermarkets registering younger voter. We reside in Miami Gardens, Florida and we didnot vote in the primary due to the fact that Obama didnot campaign here; also, we were told that our votes would not count. All of my neighbors are against Hillary; their feelings are the same as ours. It is significant to note that my neighbors didnot vote in the primary.

[Independentjunkie]

go independent I say , infact vote for MCCain because the dem party does not need racists blacks in it anyways...

[dollars2donuts]

IJ, you're back! As I was trying to explain to you before, a HUGE part of the black vote right now is BACKLASH against the Clinton. Not block voting. Not racism. It's anger, hurt and betrayal. Have you ever felt those emotions before? Well that's what many of us are feeling right now, and while many of us like Obama, it would not be (0% or so without a tremendous amount of anger, believe me. Remember that in January Hillary had 60% of the black vote and blacks were skeptical of Obama. But once Bob Johnson, Billy Shaheen, Geraldine, "as far as I know", Dollar Bill and his "Jesse won too", "Obama played the race card", calling him a drug dealer, "he can't win", "fairy tale", belittling MLK's role in Voting Rights, etc etc etc....well you get the picture. Black folks feel BETRAYED and that's how we're voting. Get it? Anyway, if you resent the black role in the Dem Party so much, why not become a Repub? Then you won't have to deal with us.

[lisakaz2]

I was very very sad thinking HRC could deny me the chance to vote for Obama. Have you considered writing him in instead vs. just staying home? It made me feel much better to have that as my "fall back."

[ApolloniaCreed]

No one should fall for this divide and conquer bull... while she may have a problem w/ AA voters, its not just a race issue. I feel like she has throw AAs under the bus as she would have the rural American's when she felt like it would not benefit Bill Clinton's campaign. Remember "screw em". Which ran for considerably less time than, Reverend Wright, bitter, or her horrible comments about democratic activists (moveon) put together. Let's not fall for this, PLEASE!!!

[glorysong]

Ii will be voting for Obama. I voted for her husband twice. But I will not be votng for her. She turn me off with all the things she has said, how she played the Race card, and her terrble lies. I am an AA Woman.

[maggieb]

I am one black voter who does not have a problem with Hillary Clinton and gladly voted for her last week. People had a much better way of life in the 90's than nowadays. Anyone who cant say that the 90's were better days were probably not born then.

[vickic]

Bill Clinton is the one who deregulated the financial industry through the Glas-Seagal Act, which is now noted to be the primary cause for all of the issues in the housing industry. REAL PEOPLE have now lost their homes because of Bill Clinton.

I have NO love for President Bush, believe me, however, just months after he took office, the country was hit with a recession. The issues that caused the recession started in Bill Clinton's administration. Again, many low and middle class families have nevered recovered from that recession in 2001 because of stagnant wages, jobs going overseas due to NAFTA (again, NAFTA signed in Bill Clinton's administration), and oil prices that have skyrocketed.

I voted for Clinton both times and the only reason my family had a "better life" as you put it because we worked hard and bettered ourselves. Bill Clinton had nothing to do with my family's economic situation back in the 90's.

[strifeknot]

You're not black. Clinton supporters, like their candidate, seem to be pathological liars.

[DMW1]

That was due to the dot com and technology explosion of that era, not Bill Clinton

[TrueIndy08]

sorry to tell you, the 90's have come and gone... times have changed, the world has changed,...

If you think having her for POTUS is going to make the 90's magically re-appear, you my friend are sadly mistaken!!!

[Independentjunkie]

as opposed to what? living on HOPE and fresh air promises?

atlest we know what history of economic booms she will bring...

[msjentay]

I just happen to be African-American and an Obama supporter but was on the fence leaning towards Clinton after the first debate. After seeing the true Clintons I'll never vote for Clinton. I'm not supporting Obama because he's black (He's biracial actually. His mother's Caucasian from Kansas and his father isn't actually American, so I think his identity has been skewed a bit by the media. Anyhow, I digress). I have the same draw to him as the non-African American voters in Iowa, and SC and Washington - his integrity. I think the media is again slightly off - Clintons behavior has been egregious enough to turn LOTs of people off; many of them just happen to be African-American. And it's particulalry because they have fanned racial flames (just like Michael Moore said before endorsing Obama) which shows they'd do anything and throw anyone under the bus for their political gain. They threw away their most loyal base just for the nomination.

[gregjones]

The media diagnoses every demo....the old...young...rich....poor...educated....uneducated.... bowlers, gun toters and beer drinkers.....And somehow ALWAYS finds a way to give the advantage to Clinton. But just yesterday, the media finally began to raise the most incredible point in the whole race. HILLARY HAS LOST THE SUPPORT OF AN ENTIRE RACE OF PEOPLE !!!!!!!! Do you know how incredibly sad this fact is ? Hillary Clinton (who's husband was so loved as to have been called The First Black President) has alienated the black people of America to such a degree that there is no way blacks will support her EVER. This has nothing to do with Obama !!!! Keep in mind folks....Hillary started this campaign with 82% of the black support. But as blacks learned more about her (Goldwater Girl....Against Civil Rights Act of '64...etc.) combined with her LBJ statements and Bill's minimizing of Obama (fairy tale...Jesse won S.Carolina too...etc) blacks were shocked...and then incredibly offended by these revelations to a degree that can never be recovered. WE FEEL DECEIVED !!!! We hope that our friends of all races understand how we as blacks feel. This is the main story that needs to get out to the superdelegates. People across America are contacting the DNC 202-863-8000 to let them (and superdelegates) know that Hillary ABSOLUTELY KILLED HER ELECTABILTY. The truth is the truth !

Greg Jones
Blacks4Barack.org
(A Multi-Racial Organization...Dedicated To Truth)

[inspectormerlot]

What I wonder about this is what impact will Barack have with African American voters if Clinton does get the nomination through superdelegates? ie He's affirmed that he will work hard to lock in support for her. `Reconciliation and redemption`...
I understand that African Americans might well loathe her now. (I can't stand the woman) But after Barack does all he can to undermine that, and when they're confronted with a Republican so right wing alternative, won't they come around? How do you seriously vote for right wing Supreme Court Justices? How do you vote for a continuation of the Corridor of Shame? 40 million Americans - so many of them African American - without health care?
It seems to me that Barack himself has reassured superdelegates in relation to this.

[PennP]

Nothing says he will do it without terms. I'd think that before he could stump for her, he'd need to feel reconciled with her, and insist on reconciliation with those she's outraged. If that doesn't happen--and it ain't likely--it begs common sense to think he'd put his back into supporting her candidacy. Realistically, since she cannot and will not be the next POTUS, or the one after that, it would be throwing good time and money after bad to go to bat for her. As the candidate the DNC floated and pre-crowned, the DNC can do the dirty work of carrying her train. Obama might be obliged to contribute token efforts, more in support of the party than Clinton herself, but I doubt Clinton would even want him around, since he'd just remind people of the worst missed opportunity in a lifetime. I'd think she'd have her hands full dealing with Bill's "support" for her, anyway.