Poll Finds Racial Gap Over Excitement of Campaign Friday, July 18, 2008 7:30 AM
-- An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll found differences in how engaged various groups of voters are in the presidential campaign.
A RACIAL GAP
In the AP-Yahoo News poll conducted in June, 49 percent of blacks said they are excited by the election campaign, compared to 16 percent of whites. Enthusiasm by African-Americans has also grown far more: 32 percent more African-Americans and just 6 percent more whites say they are excited now than said so in an AP-Yahoo News survey in November.
DIVIDES AMONG WHITES
Whites who say they are not excited by the campaign back Republican John McCain by a 2-to-1 margin. Whites who say the election is exciting lean toward Democrat Barack Obama, by 2-to-1. Overall, 46 percent of whites said they were interested in the presidential race in November while just 41 percent say so now.
POLITICS CAN BE A DRAG
Independents are more bored with the campaign than any other group of people _ 28 percent of them say so. They are also the angriest, with 24 percent saying they feel that way. McCain backers not sure they'll support him are most frustrated, 57 percent, and feel the most helpless, 37 percent.
ONLINE POLITICAL ACTIVITY IS LIMITED ...
Between six in 10 and nine in 10 say they have never used the Internet for politics, varying by activity. Obama supporters are slightly likelier than McCain's to go online for politics. Overall, the most active tend to be younger, better-educated and higher-earning people. A third say they have read political news on the Internet within the past month. One in 10 say they have visited candidates' Web sites in this period, one in eight have watched videos of political ads and one in five have looked up public opinion polls.
... WHILE OTHER POLITICAL ACTIVITY REMAINS LOW
Few say they have engaged in any recent political activity. One in 10 or fewer say they have contributed money to a candidate, attended a campaign event, been a political volunteer or joined a candidate's e-mail list within the past year. About one in five have signed petitions or contacted an elected official. Better-educated, higher-income people tend to be more active, and there is little difference by peoples' political party or the candidate they support.