… [R]ecent research by political scientists … suggests that racial and cultural anxieties actually have their greatest political influence on better-educated whites. … So why is racial animus more politicized among well-educated whites? The simple answer is that education imparts social and political knowledge that prepares people to better read […] Read more »
On Race, Obama Treads With Caution
Is Mitt Romney playing the race card on welfare reform? It was a softball question for three Democratic pollsters sitting on a National Journal panel hours before the Democratic National Convention opened Tuesday. “Yes,” replied Celinda Lake. “Yes,” said Margie Omero. “Yes,” echoed John Anzalone. But for Joel Benenson, President […] Read more »
Why (and How) Romney is Playing the Race Card
… First, internal GOP polling and focus groups offer convincing evidence that the welfare ad is hurting Obama. Second, the welfare issue, generally speaking, triggers anger in white blue-collar voters that is easily directed toward Democrats. This information comes from senior GOP strategists who have worked both for President Bush […] Read more »
Race and the 2012 election
Most of the issues dominating the 2012 election make sense. There’s the economy, of course. The budget deficit. Medicare. Obamacare. But click through the “videos” section of Mitt Romney’s Web site and you’ll see something odd: His campaign is running more ads about welfare than just about any other issue. […] Read more »
Making The Election About Race
The Republican ticket is flooding the airwaves with commercials that develop two themes designed to turn the presidential contest into a racially freighted resource competition pitting middle class white voters against the minority poor. … The importance to the Romney-Ryan ticket of two overlapping constituencies — whites without college degrees […] Read more »
Majority of New Yorkers Say Police Favor White People
A significant majority of New Yorkers say the Police Department favors whites over blacks, according to a new poll by The New York Times. [cont.] Michael Grynbaum and Marjorie Connelly, New York Times Read more »