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 dont believe anything the media say, lately, they seem to be trying to smother things over for Obama we know who their trying to get in the white house.
Jon and JOAN — Go take a statistics course
Shawn — you say you haven’t been watching the news; so how can you say Fox has not been fair?
AmericanDemocrat — I suppose this would be encouraging to see… if you were a Clinton supporter. Just reverse those stats, and you’ll see how much ground Obama has LOST.
After what Obama said on a Philly radio show this morning about his grandmother and “typical white” people in light of his speech yesterday, I can only imagine some people will change their minds.
Lets be honest people. Everyone commenting against Obama never intended on voting for him anyway. You just want to have the talk around the water cooler at work and say this is the reason I’m not voting for him knowing the real reason your not voting for him is because of his race or frankly your just scared of real change. Most of the comments on here are from Republicans, and lets be frank, Republicans don’t care about no one but themselves. As long as the government is not messing with you financially you pretty much so who cares about everyone else the government is screwing over. Bush has ruined this country but who cares we have another issue we have to deal with. We have a pastor who said something bad about white america, so we have to go after everyone associated with that chruch. Because lets be honest, people can’t think for themselve, have their point of view. Oh no someone is doing the thinking for us. Just like Wright, he brain washed everyone in the chruch, including Obama. Let’s get real people. Just because you know someone who says something you dont agree with, weather it be a friend or family member you dont disown them. Lets just be honest and really say why you dont want Obama, a black/white male, to be the president of the united states.
You all don’t know anything about Obama besides that he draws large crowds and his pastor gave a disturbing speech. I know old black people who are still bitter about segregation, I know old(and young) white people who throw around the n-word several times a day.
As for Obama, this guy has written very honestly in both of his books about many of his shortcomings, he admits he is not perfect, but he’s trying. I guarantee you if you read his books with an open mind, or before this recent stuff has come out, you would not think he agrees with his pastor. For him to be a liar and a fraud, as so many have alleged, his life would have to have been one huge monumental hoax. What kind of conspiracy theory are you believing?
He worked in the Chicago slums for years organizing the community, trying to eradicate drugs and violence, went to law school, was elected state senator then as Illinois senator, wrote two books, married an America-hating woman, is now running for president, just because one day he was hoping to take over America and turn us communist or something? Pretty lofty goal for a black guy named Barack Obama, to decide back in the 80s, you know, I hate this country and the way to fix it is for me to pretend to love it and get a lot of friends and a huge following, and one day, I will be president and then I will ruin us and kick all the white people out because Pastor Wright says that’s what we need to do. Yeah, that plan will succeed……surely Americans all over the country will be lining up to elect a black guy named Barack Obama. Easy enough. Now I just have to get into BS mode for the next 20 years. Hopefully no one will figure me out!”
Who’s drinking the koolaid? why don’t you all wake up and try to think for yourselves? Ask yourself, why do you think Barack Obama is running for president? You really think he’s trying to sabotage the country? How could he possibly have all this passionate support if he was full of —-?
Fox, fox, fox - still stirring the pot. Please don’t condemn the American people to another 4 years of Bush like mistakes in Government.
I believe in another week the polls will tell us different. What about the other half that do believe Obama is like Wright, I think it will be hard for him in the general.
I’m still amazed that we have that many people in this country that can’t see through this guy.
His wife has the glaze of pure hate in her eyes when she speaks of her country. His minister and mentor spews pure radical racism from the pulpit. He stands tall in Philly and delivers an
eloquent obamagram to the natiion and all is forgotten? Oh brother. It’s scary to think that there
may be enough obamuppets bouncing to the polls to put him in office.
One should never underestimate the power of Stupid Humans in Transit.
Why not let racist hannity come in to all the black churches? Let him tell us how he never heard of any racist remarks before in his life. We know this is a lie because he is a racist himself and this news station. This is it for me. Maybe hillary and bill are paying him or maybe the kkk. Sorry there is news then there is news. How many of our Americans have been killed in the war today? Colmes get out!
It appears Fox news is on a crusade to destroy Barack Obama, evident by the reporting on Hannity’s show. The hatred and bias reporting on this show is appalling. Fox news has lowered it standard and is now among the other cable news networks that do not have a fair and balance reporting.
Barack Obama may be other things but he is not racist. Please let us focus on the issues because this type of reporting is going to set us back another 20 years. I can see what is now happening no the internet since Pastor Wright’s video release. Please let us do what the forefathers and now Senator Obama is asking us to do as people for a perfect union. Rise above racial divide and focus on an economy at the brink of recession, a war that we need to be careful in getting out, a broken healthcare system and divisive politics.