FOX News Poll: More Than Half of Americans Believe Obama Doesn’t Share Views of Pastor Wright
Barack Obama, who is trying to move on from discussion about his former pastor, speaks about Iraq and the economy Thursday at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. (AP Photo)
By Dana Blanton
Fifty-seven percent of Americans do not believe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama shares the controversial views of his former spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright, while about one in four (24 percent) believes he does share the Rev. Wright’s views. And a sizable minority has doubts about Obama because of his pastor’s comments, according to a new FOX News poll.
Republicans (36 percent) are more likely than independents (20 percent) and Democrats (17 percent) to think Obama shares Wright’s controversial and unpatriotic views. Whites (25 percent) are more likely than blacks (15 percent) to think so.
Over a third of voters (35 percent) and a quarter of Democrats (26 percent) and independents (27 percent) say Obama’s relationship with Rev. Wright has caused them to have doubts about him. Here the racial breakdown is stark: 40 percent of whites and 2 percent of blacks have doubts.
“One of the hallmarks of Obama’s campaign has been his ability to attract independent voters. This doubt brought on by the Wright controversy has to be troubling for Obama,” said Ernest Paicopolos, principal of Opinion Dynamics Corp.
Click here to see the poll results and read the full story.
It’s unclear how much damage, if any, the situation will do to Obama’s standing in his head-to-head race with Hillary Clinton, as Democrats so far are still almost evenly divided in their preference: 40 percent say they want Clinton to be the nominee and 38 percent want Obama. In February, the vote preference was tied at 44 percent each.
All in all, Americans think your choice in friends says a lot about you: Almost 7 of 10 say they think the people you choose to be your friends reflect on you and your values. And 39 percent say your friends reflect on you “a lot.”
Rev. Wright was Obama’s pastor and spiritual adviser for many years, and performed Obama’s wedding ceremony in 1992.
Most Americans — 72 percent — are familiar with the comments made by Obama’s former pastor.
Obama gave a speech on race in America in which he addressed Rev. Wright’s comments on March 18. Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from March 18 to March 19 in the evenings. The poll has a 3-point error margin.
I think your network is wrong for your extremely slanted coverage of Barack Obama and his pastor. Your essentially attack the man for going to church. It’s amazing to me that a network that consistently promotes conservative values would lower itself to actively fomenting racial and religious hatred in our country. Your stance on this issue is completely out of step with reality and will only discredit your network over the long term. I used to respect your network for being the most entertaining but see now that it’s nothing more than yellow,tabloid journalism at it’s worst. You should be ashamed of yourselves for lowering the tone of the discussion in our country at a time when we can least afford it. I have to question what kind of patriots you really are when you insult an entire race of people for being angry because of they were and continue to be oppressed. What kind of people are you? Do you even try to be objective? When are you going to condemn McCain for his association with John Hagee? If you really are fair and balanced then why are you doing your best to divide our country against itself?
Just where were these polls taken, and how were the questions asked? I doubt your poll numbers!
I hate polls..they are so stupid…No body called and asked me what did I think. Did they call and ask any of the people on this blog, for or against Obama? NO..they didn’t. Where do they get these mysterious people from I wonder. This 57%…Give me a break! I give AMERICANS more creadit for brians than this poll. Bush is proof that the American people can be fooled. But we Americans are fast learners..FOOL US ONCE SHAME ON YOU! FOOL US TWICE SHAME ON US!!
I don’t believe Obama is foolish enough to believe the radical statements of his pastor; however I DO BELIEVE he has a lot of Anger and Resentment toward whites.
He would not have been a part of that church for so long, if he had not found the harsh racism acceptable.
Obama has more conflict within himself than appears on the surface. His wife has even more trouble concealing her inner turmoil.
Frankly, I do not trust him. He has tried to explain this whole thing in too many differnt ways, which makes me to know he has NOT been fully Honest.
Obama cannot help unify AMERICA!
I’m confused, is grandma a racist or not.
This morning (Thursday 3/20/08) on WIP AM 610 Sports Radio in Philadelphia, Obama said:
“The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity — she doesn’t,” he said. “But she is a typical white person who, you know, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know there is a reaction. That has been bred into our experiences that don’t go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way.”
Oh, just a typical White person…Now I get it…
Obama, thank you for breaking it down for us and for being such a great unifier…
You leave me tingly all under…
I wrote a comment and mispelled a word, changing my entire thought.
I meant to say,”we need someone to “protect” us ( I mistyped protest) not CHANGE US.
”
Thank you, I am a proud Conservative Republican and FNC viewer.
Now I can sleep, knowing my mistake has been corrected.
He referred to his grandmother as a “typical white person”. The adjective “white” doesn’t sound like someone that “transcends race and gender” to me. Seems like he has some personal feelings about it, otherwise he would have described her as a “typical person”, without the “white” part???
There was no need to talk trash about his grandmother. It served no purpose but to distract people away from the facts and to “whiten” up the situation. He threw his own grandmother under the bus to save himself.
His speech had some weak comparisons. What his grandmother says in private doesn’t compare to what his preacher said in public and for 2 decades. He condemns what his preacher said but not the preacher himself and he is still going to the same church.
My favorite part was when he said he couldn’t condemn his preacher anymore than he could condemn his white grandmother or the black community. What I heard was “he can’t condemn his preacher and still keep the black vote but he doesn’t want ‘white’ people to hold that against him”. He used “white grandmother” to soften it up and he could have just used “kittens in a basket” instead, because they are both meaningless propaganda.
Of course, Obama supporters will talk about what an eloquent speech he gave and how nice his suit looked, but it is just another empty speech. He didn’t totally condemn someone who has anti-American and racist views and he didn’t quit the church, which some will interpret as he agrees with these views. If this had happened to Hilary, I seriously believe that she would have had to concede the election.
Obama lacks judgment by participating and supporting Rev. Wright’s congregation. He sat there and listens to those hateful messages for 20 years without opposition. He didn’t have enough common sense to just walk out and condemn that type of behavior. He lacks character by associating what his white grandmother told him in private to that of the public hateful messages of Rev. Wright as being equivalent. We don’t get to choose our Family but we get to choose our Pastors, churches and friends. Obama chose Rev. Wright and his congregation to be part of his life for the last 20 years. I have been a Democrat for over 30 years. If Obama were to get the nomination, I’ll be switching over to the Republican Party and voting for John McCain. I’ll never go back to the Democratic Party and the reason is simple, I love my country more then I love my party. Obama lacks judgment and character. Obama is not Wright for America.
I didn’t like him before Wrights statements, his response, and I dislike him even more now, because I don’t trust him. His theories are all wrong. We need someone that’s going to protest this country not CHANGE IT.
Of course they believe that, you nimrods!
For a variety of reasons.
But, the very fact that he is so closely associated with radically racist people
who advocate violence doesn’t speak well for him, now does it?
He’s done more to widen the split between whites and blacks than
anyone in a long, long time.
Is this what the Dems are offering as National Leadership???
Of course.