Posted by
Tom L. on Monday, November 10, 2008 6:00:00 AM
The 2008 presidential election may have been about “change”, “the economy stupid”, “the country is headed in the wrong direction”, etc. One thing that the election was not about was race.
Compare how President-elect Obama did in 2008, versus Senator John Kerry in 2004, and Vice President Al Gore in 2000.
|
Obama 2008
|
Kerry 2004
|
Gore 2000
|
|
Men
|
49%
|
44%
|
42%
|
|
Women
|
56%
|
51%
|
54%
|
|
White
|
43%
|
41%
|
42%
|
|
Black
|
95%
|
88%
|
90%
|
|
Hispanic
|
67%
|
56%
|
62%
|
|
Asian
|
62%
|
58%
|
54%
|
|
18-29
|
66%
|
54%
|
48%
|
|
30-44
|
52%
|
46%
|
48%
|
|
45-59
|
49%
|
48%
|
48%
|
|
60+
|
47%
|
46%
|
51%
|
|
Not H.S. grad.
|
63%
|
50%
|
59%
|
|
H.S. grad.
|
52%
|
47%
|
48%
|
|
Some college
|
51%
|
46%
|
45%
|
|
College grad.
|
53%
|
49%
|
48%
|
|
First time voter
|
69%
|
53%
|
52%
|
|
Protestant
|
45%
|
40%
|
40%
|
|
Catholic
|
54%
|
47%
|
49%
|
|
Jewish
|
78%
|
74%
|
79%
|
|
Big Cities
|
70%
|
60%
|
71%
|
|
Small Cities
|
59%
|
49%
|
57%
|
|
Suburbs
|
50%
|
47%
|
47%
|
|
Small Towns
|
45%
|
48%
|
38%
|
|
Rural
|
45%
|
40%
|
37%
|
|
Total Votes
|
65,431,955
|
59,028,444
|
50,999,897
|
|
% of votes
|
52.6%
|
48.3%
|
48.4%
|
Obama did poorer than either Kerry or Gore in four categories:
|
Obama 2008
|
Kerry 2004
|
Gore 2000
|
|
60+
|
47%
|
46%
|
51%
|
|
Jewish
|
78%
|
74%
|
79%
|
|
Big Cities
|
70%
|
60%
|
71%
|
|
Small Towns
|
45%
|
48%
|
38%
|
Obama drew only 47% of the age 60+ voters, 4% less than Gore, but only 1% less than Kerry. Gore received 1% more of the Jewish vote and 1% more of the Big City vote. Kerry received 3% more than Obama in Small Towns, but Obama outdrew Gore by 7%.
There have been 16 presidential elections held since the end of World War II. In six of the 16 the winning candidate drew a higher percentage of the vote than Obama. The only non-incumbents who outdrew Obama were Eisenhower in 1952 (being the general who “won” the war in Europe may have helped) and George H.W. Bush in 1988 (and, of course, Bush was a sitting vice president).
Obama’s 52.6% is higher than Clinton’s or George W. Bush’s in either of their elections, Reagan’s and Nixon’s first elections, and Truman, Kennedy and Carter.
|
Johnson 1964
|
61.1%
|
|
Nixon 1972
|
60.7%
|
|
Reagan 1984
|
58.8%
|
|
Eisenhower 1956
|
57.6%
|
|
Eisenhower 1952
|
55.2%
|
|
Bush 1988
|
53.4%
|
|
Obama 2008
|
52.6%
|
|
Reagan 1980
|
50.7%
|
|
Bush 2004
|
50.7%
|
|
Carter 1976
|
50.1%
|
|
Kennedy 1960
|
49.7%
|
|
Truman 1948
|
49.6%
|
|
Clinton 1996
|
49.2%
|
|
Bush 2000
|
47.9%
|
|
Nixon 1968
|
43.4%
|
|
Clinton 1992
|
43.0%
|
So, despite all the pre-election hand-wringing about racism being a factor, Americans may have voted the way they did for a number of reasons, but race wasn’t a significant issue.