Implicit whiteness again.
The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows President Obama’s standing among white voters continuing to slip, a potentially ominous sign for his party with the midterm elections fast approaching.
Just 40 percent of whites in the Post/ABC survey approve of the job Obama is doing, his lowest rating among this key demographic since the start of his presidency and well below the 50 percent approval number that he carries nationwide. Forty-three percent of white voters strongly disapprove of the job Obama is doing, while just 19 percent strongly approve.
Among the other lowlights with whites in this poll for Obama: 54 percent of college-educated whites now disapprove of the job he is doing, and, among white college-educated women, Obama’s approval numbers has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency in Post/ABC polling.[snip]
Why does this crush of data matter — particularly for the 2010 election?
As we wrote in an earlier column, recent historical trends suggest that white voters will comprise a larger chunk of the coming midterm electorate than they did in 2008 — making the erosion of Obama’s numbers a major concern for House strategists.
White voters made up 79 percent of the 2006 midterm electorate and comprised 74 percent of the 2008 vote. If the 2010 electoral composition mirrors that of 2006, one Democratic official who closely monitors House race predicted “massive losses” for House and Senate Democrats in November.