Whitey voting.
A new Pew Poll of white Democrats tells us a lot.
Positive feelings about Obama are more about what he makes us feel about ourselves than what we think about him:
While Mr. Obama’s positive personal image plays an important role in his high favorable ratings, the polling found that his ratings are more influenced by how he makes voters feel than by specific characteristics they attributed to him. In particular, views that Mr. Obama inspires hope and pride are the strongest determinants of a person’s opinion of him. In other words, he is a charismatic candidate who has made large numbers of Democratic voters feel good, and this is even more important to them than specific perceptions of him.
For Clinton, though, it’s mostly about her:
In contrast, Mrs. Clinton’s image is more driven by opinions about her own qualities, rather than the emotions she engenders in others. Although, making voters feel hopeful does register as a significant factor for her, especially among women, it is much less important than for Mr. Obama.
And, most disturbingly, negative feelings about Obama seem to track pretty closely with racial backlash:
The poll also found that while large numbers of voters do not ascribe negative qualities to Mr. Obama, views of him are heavily influenced by certain social beliefs and attitudes held by his critics. Specifically, white Democrats with unfavorable views of him are much more likely than those who have favorable opinions of him to say that equal rights for minorities have been pushed too far; they also are more likely to disapprove of interracial dating, and are more concerned about the threat that immigrants may pose to American values.
In addition, nearly a quarter (23 percent) of the largely older, white, working-class Democratic voters who hold a negative view of Mr. Obama believe he is a Muslim.
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