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Blacks split over Clinton, Obama
04/10/2007 09:12 - (SA)
Washington - Blacks are split down the middle over Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic US presidential race, seeing both as on their side, a new poll says.
At the same time, blacks and whites have starkly different perceptions of Obama's credentials, the Associated Press-Ipsos poll said on Wednesday. Blacks are significantly more satisfied than whites that the youthful Illinois senator has sufficient experience to be president.
Many blacks seem torn between the two. Obama would be the first black president, while the New York senator and former first lady, along with her husband, is widely popular among black Americans.
"I'm a black person, but that's not the only thing I like about him," said Raymond Monroe, 63, a retired production supervisor from Abilene, Texas, who backs Obama but says he might shift. "He's young and has new ideas, but she's pretty sharp, too. Instead of good old boys all the time, I think we need a change."
Loyal Democrat voters
Blacks make up about a tenth of US voters overall. They are reliably loyal Democrats, voting nearly nine-to-one for the party's candidates in the 2004 and 2006 elections.
Their allegiance is especially strong to the Clintons, which will help the New York senator, according several black leaders from around the United States.
"It's not so much Mrs Clinton they're backing, it's that she's married to the ex-president," said Mayor Willie Adams jnr of Albany, Georgia.
In the late September poll, Clinton led Obama among whites by 35% to 18%. Blacks were essentially evenly divided, 40% for Obama and 38% for Clinton. Among all Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, Clinton led by 35% to 23%. All those measurements have been steady for months in the AP-Ipsos poll.
Faced with choosing between two potential White House firsts - the first black president or the first female - black women split 47% for Clinton, 37% for Obama. Clinton has led decisively among all women nationally.
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