AP Poll: Obama Loses 6 Points Due to Race

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If you haven’t read about the AP poll on race and the election, go take a look.

To be frank, it’s pretty disheartening. And not just in terms of Obama’s electoral chances. It says some pretty awful things about America. Did you know that more than a quarter of white Democrats feel that “if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites”? And that nearly four in 10 white independents feel the same way? When given an opportunity to label blacks, 22 percent of whites agreed with the word “boastful,” 29 percent reach for “complaining,” and 13 percent go with “lazy.”

The write-up takes care to note that whites more frequently have positive things to say about blacks than negative things, and that many whites who feel negatively about blacks are still eager to vote for Obama (yay, exceptionalism!). But it concludes: “Obama’s support would be as much as 6 percentage points higher if there were no white racial prejudice.”

A couple key questions. Will that 6 percent be erased by increased support among minorities? Obama will almost certainly do better among blacks than John Kerry, and he is solidifying the Hispanic vote as the election goes along. In effect, will Obama gain as many votes because of his race as he loses?

And will the 6 percent of voters who presumably would vote for a white Democrat be swayed if Obama performs ably in the three debates? If Obama defies every stereotype of blacks that these misguided voters believe in, will he be able to earn their votes? Or is racism beyond reason?

Update: Just saw something over at TNR — 42 percent of white Democrats agree with the following statement: “Italians, Irish, Jews and other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up; blacks should do the same without special favors.”

Wouldn’t you think Democrats who feel this way would support Obama, because he has done exactly what they think all blacks should do? If they honestly believed in an up-by-your-bootstraps worldview that was devoid of racism, they would applaud a man who has — through hard work, talent, intelligence and no special favors — beaten the odds. But in reality, just 61 percent of these Democrats back Obama, indicating that there is either (1) a distaste for blacks at the root of their answer, or (2) a suspicion on their part that no matter how well Obama hews to the “rugged individualism” ideal, he will begin dispensing undeserved handouts to blacks as soon as he takes office.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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