Byron York:
On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are.
York tries to make the case that Obama's numbers are being propped up by black people based on racial reasons, which Dave Weigel handily dispatches here. The bigger problem with York's piece is his pretty ridiculous (and offensive) assertion that black people don't count.
You see, in the real America, Obama isn't so popular, except that those non-American non-white black people are propping him up. You take them out of the equation, and America hates Obama! See?
Of course, those damn pesky women. That NY Times poll that York is writing about didn't breakout results by sex, but our Daily Kos weekly poll does. And in our poll, Obama's favorability ratings were 18 points higher among women than men. So clearly, that makes Obama look a lot more popular overall than he actually is.
And what about the youngsters? Voters between 18-29 liked Obama by a 82-9 margin! They are CERTAINLY making Obama look more popular than he really is. And Dems? Check it -- Dems have a 93-4 favorability rating for Obama (almost the same as 93-3 from African Americans), clearly making Obama look far more popular overall than he really is. Even those independents, at 73-18, make Obama look more popular overall than he really is.
And don't EVEN look at the northeast! Their 89-7 favorability rating for Obama definitely makes Obama look more popular overall than he really is. Of course, the Midwest and West, with their 75-20 and 76-19 favorability ratings, respectively, also make Obama look more popular overall than he really is.
In fact, African Americans, women, Democrats, youngsters, non-Southerners, atheists, gays, Muslims, Jews, Latinos, Asians, union members, environmentalists, and independents are all making Obama seem a lot more popular than he really is overall. And since they don't matter to conservatives, they can pretend that they don't exist! Fun!
In fact, Obama is REALLY unpopular, and real Americans are pining for more McCain and Bush.