ON THE GOP: Gov. Mitt Romney is currently positioned to garner an historic low rate of support among African-American voters. Only two percent of African-American voters in our poll currently support the Romney/Ryan ticket. The data indicate the traits that are pushing African-Americans away from the GOP, including the perception that too many Republican leaders seem "hostile to minorities." Even where significant percentages of black voters are philosophically in line with traditional Republican Party positions on issues such as same-sex marriage (40% favor/38% oppose), a decline in moral values as biggest obstacle to black advancement (46%), and abortion (51% pro-choice/44% pro-life), these views overwhelmingly do not translate into GOP votes.
ENTHUSIASM VS. APATHY: Despite conventional wisdom, black voters are on track to vote in numbers equivalent to 2008. Only 4% say they are less interested in voting in the upcoming election than they were in 2008. 85% say they are following the election closely.
HOPE AMIDST DESPAIR: African-American voters are surprisingly optimistic, despite an unemployment rate double that of whites, 69% are optimistic about the economy rebounding in the next 12 months. 77% say the US economy is stabilizing or improving.
"IT'S THE COST OF LIVING, STUPID:" The top concern about the economy for black voters is not jobs (21%), but rather salary and wages not keeping pace with the cost of living (38%) and affordable health care (24%).
A PRESIDENT FOR ALL AMERICANS: Though a number of prominent African-Americans have called on the President to more explicitly target programs to address black unemployment, the overwhelming majority of black voters accept that he must focus on repairing the national economy and in that way help black Americans (76% vs 14%).