Buried in a story about a challenge to the Voting Rights Act filed by a conservative activist lawyer and former law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas was this interesting tidbit:
Ten percent of white Alabamians voted for Obama, compared with 48 percent in states not covered by the [Voting Rights Act].
I have to say, I was surprised by that figure. I assumed that southern states would naturally have a lower percentage of white voters who voted for an African American and Democratic President (if only because they are so solidly Republican), but I was thinking the percentage was likely more in the range of 70% against Obama and 30% for him. That 90% of all white people in Alabama voted against Obama is sad. And that figure isn’t much better in Louisiana and Mississippi, the two states which sandwich Alabama (Louisiana just under 15% and Mississippi at roughly 11%). In each of these states fewer whites voted for Obama than they did for Kerry in 2004 by a significant margin. Only white voters in Georgia (23% for Obama) and Texas (26% for Obama) come close to matching the voting pattern in these three Gulf Coast states in 2008. Contrast that with other traditionally red states where Obama garnered more white votes than Kerry had in 2004:
There were a number of states with considerable increases (labeled in the chart for a five point or greater gain.) The most interesting are North Carolina (up from 27% to 35%) and Virginia (up from 32% to 39%.) Clearly Obama could not have won those states on the white vote alone, but those shifts amount to roughly a 5-6 point boost in statewide vote share, certainly enough to matter.
Also interesting are traditional red states Indiana and Kansas, with gains from 34% to 45% and from 34% to 40% respectively. Also Montana and North Dakota are notable, with gains from 39% to 45% and from 35% to 42%. While the Democrat didn’t win three of these four states, these shifts demonstrate that they are no longer as out of reach for Dems as recent past elections might have suggested.
Obviously, the majorities of white voters in all of these states voted for the Republican candidate, but to a far lesser extent than they had in 2004 when the Democratic nominee was white. All, that is, except for states like Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana where one can only assume Obama’s race was more important than his politics. Heck, even in lily white Utah, hardly a bastion of Democratic voters, more whites voted for Obama in 2008 than they did Kerry in 2004.
Which isn’t to say the rest of the country is living in a post racial world. Far from it. I know plenty of people who voted against Obama in part because he was black, or they believed he would favor blacks over whites once in office. But 90% of the whites in my white bread suburban community didn’t vote against Obama. Here’s hoping the US Supreme Court Justice Kennedy doesn’t overturn the Voting Rights Act. Obviously, it is still needed nearly a half century after it was first enacted by Congress, with the full support (and professional arm twisting tactics) of a President from Texas.
