Fewer than four in ten whites approve of Obama: poll

By Sahil Kapur
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 -- 10:15 am
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barackobama20080716 Fewer than four in ten whites approve of Obama: poll

Signaling a growing ethnic political divide, President Barack Obama's support among whites has fallen to a record low.

Just 39 percent of non-Hispanic whites approve of Obama's performance as president -- a steady decline from 61 percent in February of this year, a new Gallup poll finds.

The president's support among nonwhites remains strong at 73 percent, down marginally from 80 percent in his month of inauguration.

Obama's approval rating fell below 50 percent last week for the first time in his presidency, to 49 points -- perhaps as much a product of the weak economy as a referendum on the president.

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The first African-American president's numbers have been excellent among blacks, averaging 93 points this year while never sinking below 90, according to Gallup.

obama gallup

"Since the beginning of his presidency, his support has dropped 22 points among whites, compared with a 7-point loss among nonwhites," Gallup noted.

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Story comments are below...

  • worried_about_health_of_media
    I'd be interested in the education level of those that do because I'm pretty sure most intelligent people, scientists, and probably more women support the president.

    And how is white defined? With more and more mixed marriages that means less and less. There has been some support lost among democrats because Obama is sending more troops, and the republicans have an ideological problem with health care reform even if it will reduce the deficit, prevent half of personal bankruptcies, and the saving countless lives. (Not helped by constant stream of misinformation/propaganda and cries of socialism from the likes of foxnews.) He is taking hits from both the right and left. Truth be told health care reform along with Obama's other policies (energy, education etc) represent the kind of economic good sense more likely to prevent the kind of unrest that could lead to real "socialism" than to cause it.

    p.s. Canada is still largely Caucasian, and last I checked he had an approval rating in the 80's. Canadians were not very impressed when Palin the other day when she said they should dismantle their public health system. (Canadians live longer, pay far less and their system ranks far above America's which is in 37th place. I don't think they are keen to have an American style system when the US also has the worst infant mortality rate in the modern world.) It is perfectly possible to have a public health care system in a democratic, capitalistic society. They do have private care as an option, but the public system means Canadians are far less prey to quackery and drug companies inventing illnesses/pushing pills, because doctors/manufacturers are held accountable to many more people.
  • greg789
    I voted for him and worked on his campaign. I asked to be taken off his campaign email list during his transition. His appointments told me that he was not the man I hoped he was. His moves on war, free trade, immigration, Wall Street and Israel continue to show me that he is not what I hoped. Still we are no worse off then if Mccain had got in.
  • rickpetes
    Well, hell, if he's not going to govern differently than Baby Bush, why should he have higher approval rating than bush. I expect, as Disenfranchised, alludes, that since his policies seem no different than Baby Bush's, his approval rating will be no different. In fact, how low did Bush go?
  • Dan
    Blacks just voted for Obama because he himself was black. That's the only explanation. There were far better candidates for president besides him. Remember Kucinich? I still see black people wearing hip-hop style Obama shirts. I'd never seen a black person wear a shirt of any other president before. I'm telling you, they voted because of RACE. Which is just as bad as those white trash crackers who voted for Bush because they thought they could have a beer with him. But I guess because there was slavery in America's past, we can't discuss the racial reasons for why black people voted. Yeah, okay. Because only non-offensive truth is allowed in public discourse, right?
  • Disenfranchised
    In a related story, polls show nearly the same amount of Whites disapproved of Bush....obviously because of their inherent racist views toward white people.

    Oh wait....
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