Color, gender, and voters

[William769]

DON'T doubt Oprah Winfrey's marketing magic, although we don't know yet whether she can do for politics what she's done for publishing. Her endorsement of the candidate Obama may not be as successful as it was for the author Obama.

But ever since she gave a nod to Barack Obama on the Larry King show, Oprah has brought some extra attention to a familiar and not always welcome question. Are African-American women, a large and loyal subset of the Democratic Party, going to be torn between two firsts? Will they be black-while-voting or female-while-voting? Or both? Or neither?

Right now, black support is split about evenly between Hillary and Barack. But while the polling numbers are small, there's strong evidence of a gender gap. Obama has a comfortable lead among black men while black women -- Oprah notwithstanding -- overwhelmingly favor Clinton.

There are, surely, many reasons for the support of either candidate. War and peace rank beside race and gender.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/18/color_gender_and_voters/

[Captain Hilts]

1. Blacks vote in a bloc in a way that women do not, so I'll guess

that they lean Obama.

Black women are as solidly Democratic as voters get. Black men are also strongly Democratic. White women aren't nearly that devoted to the Democratic party.

I was in political polling for eight years.

[Ethelk2044]

2. Black men and women will

back Barack. There is no doubt. If you think otherwise you better think again.

[polichick]

3. Interesting situation...

We'll see how the Bill factor holds up ~ he's a black guy ya know!

[Ethelk2044]

5. Don't get me wrong

There is no doubt we like Bill. However, Hillary is no Bill. I am an African American woman. All of my friends and relatives are planning on voting for Obama without any doubt. I do not know who they are pollng, but they have not polled any of us.

[polichick]

6. I wonder about polls too...

Seems like my turn should come up one of these days!

Thanks for your post, I have wondered how much of Bill's popularity would rub off on Hillary. I like them both, but think of them as individuals.

[Forkboy]

4. There was a story on NPR a couple weeks ago talking about how some black women are very torn.

They spoke to one who said she felt a loyalty to her race,but also really liked Hillary a lot.They spoke to one who said she felt a loyalty to women,but also really liked Obama a lot.

I think this is one of the more interesting sub-stories in this election.There's a good chance it will be Obama and Clinton,so it'll be interesting to see how this shakes out when the time comes.

[polichick]

7. Hopefully neither gender nor race will be the deciding factor.

I'd like to think that women ~ black, white or polka-dotted ~ will decide based on a candidate's vision, policy views, character and record. Is that terribly naive of me?

[Ethelk2044]

8. No it is not

Furthermore, we have come a long way since the 50 and 60's. There are more mixed families now. There are more minorities in this country than it was before. He will do well based on his vision for this country.

[polichick]

9. We have come a long way...

And we're going a little further with this election ~ yippee!

In my own (white, female, progressive) case, other things being equal between candidates I would tilt in favor of a female, black, Hispanic, gay or any other category that would break a barrier. That's what the American promise is all about imo. I will wholeheartedly back any Dem who gets the nod, but I'll be thrilled if it's Clinton, Obama or Richardson!

[Captain Hilts]

11. Yes, it is a little naive, but go with it...

I hope it's true.

Various demographic groups have predictable voting patterns. A lot of us need to get shook up some. Let's hope the war does that.

[Grandrose]

10. I really question this so called split?

This African American woman is leaning to Obama, has nothing to do with Oprah since I believe that more White women listen to her than AA's! I voted for Bill Clinton twice, and I really admire Hillary and will vote for her if she is the nominee of the party, but not because of my regard for her husband.

I am getting a little peeved and annoyed that we AA's are being presented as unable to differentiate between loyalty to a president we admired and a candidate capable of fulfilling our wishes and expectations and capable of beating the Republics! :eyes: