One-third of white Dems are racist, poll says

While some Ohio elected Democrats think their fellow Ohioans are racist, it turns out that perhaps the problem is in their own party.

An AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks — many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

"More than a third of all white Democrats and independents—voters Obama can't win the White House without—agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have such views."

This certainly does not bode well for the Obama campaign, as such voters could easily swing the presidential election one way or the other.

The poll was conducted to determine why Obama is locked in such a close race with McCain. Elites just don't understand why Obama is not running away with the lead, citing the unpopularity of the president as an advantage for Obama. Of course, they forget that the only approval rating less than Pres. Bush's is that of Congress and both candidates come from that body.

Apparently, 'experts' just don't get it ... for Republicans, it has more to do with Obama's positions and policies than it does his race. Even the survey found that, while Republicans harbor prejudices, too, they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. "Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president—white, black or brown."

The survey had some surprising news for Democrats - especially those who've been saying, in the last several days, that their fellow Americans are bigots and afraid to vote for a black man. According to the results, doubts about Obama's competency outweigh the racial issue.

"More than a quarter of all Democrats expressed doubt that Obama can bring about the change they want, and they are likely to vote against him because of that.

Three in 10 of those Democrats who don't trust Obama's change-making credentials say they plan to vote for McCain."

Some other interesting survey findings from the article:

* More than a quarter of white Democrats agree that "if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites."

* About 20% of independent voters called blacks "intelligent" or "smart," more than one third latched on the adjective "complaining" and 24 percent said blacks were "violent."

* Nearly four in 10 white independents agreed that blacks would be better off if they "try harder."

* Just 59% of Hillary Clinton's white Democratic supporters said they wanted Obama to be president. Nearly 17% of Clinton's white backers plan to vote for McCain.

* Among white Democrats, Clinton supporters were nearly twice as likely as Obama backers to say at least one negative adjective described blacks well.