WASHINGTON–It’s no secret that Black voters have in recent history overwhelmingly voted Democratic in presidential elections – even as much as 90 percent.
But this year’s election will likely break even that record, revealing a strong African American solidarity behind the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama and a dramatic drop in support for the Republican ticket, according to a national poll released this week.
‘‘Clearly, the historic Obama candidacy is drawing almost unprecedented Black support for the Democratic ticket, some 15 percentage points higher than what Sen. John Kerry received in our poll four years ago,’’ said David Bositis, Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies that conducted the study. ‘‘If the undecided (voters) break along the same lines as those who expressed a preference, Senator Obama would draw 94 percent of the Black vote and thereby tie President Johnson’s record-high share in the 1964 election.’’
The new survey of African Americans’ political attitudes, authored by Bositis, confirms that support for Obama “among Black voters is at near record levels for a Democratic nominee, while Black identification with the Republican Party has dropped by 60 percent since 2004,” says a statement recently released by the Joint Center, America’s most credible Black political think tank.
Based on the study, Ralph B. Everett, the Joint Center’s president and CEO, predicts a record Black turnout on every level.
‘‘These poll numbers are confirming what we expected–that Senator Obama’s historic candidacy is enormously popular with African American voters and is, in fact, driving significantly higher percentages of them to identify with the Democratic Party,’’ Everett said in a statement.
‘‘These numbers come on top of record levels of participation by Black voters in the Democratic primaries, all of which indicate that Black turnout in the general election will surpass existing records both national and in individual states.’’
The poll of 750 African Americans, taken between Sept. 16 and Oct. 6, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, also revealed that 62 percent of African Americans named the economy as the most important national problem.
In that regard, only a handful of respondents–8 percent–said their financial situation improved over the past year while 55 percent of African Americans said their financial status was worse than it was in the previous year.
The poll also found that despite the contentious Democratic Primary process, both former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have increased their favorability ratings among Black voters.
Eighty-four percent of African Americans prefer Sen. Obama over his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. NNPA
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