A new national poll has found that support for President Barack Obama among blacks has dropped considerably over the past four months, which has contributed to Obama’s sagging approval numbers. Furthermore, the lack of support among blacks for Obama may cost Democrats in the 2014 election, according to the pollsters.
According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Wednesday, only 78% of blacks now support Obama’s job performance, which is “down from 88 percent in June and 93 percent in April.”
The poll found Obama’s overall approval rating is at 45%, which is a “a 3-point drop from last month” and “one point off from his all-time presidential low that came in Aug. 2011.”
Blacks overwhelmingly supported Obama in 2008 and 2012, propelling him to the White House by giving him over 90% of their votes. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in black communities rose to 13.7% in June while Obama has championed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that the Congressional Budget Office determined would devastate the wages of working class Americans. The Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA) recently organized a rally in Washington, D.C. protesting the immigration bill, uniting progressives and conservatives of all races in opposition to comprehensive immigration reform. BALA founder Leah Durant told Breitbart News that blacks on the lower rungs of the economic ladder would be hurt most if the Senate’s immigration bill became law.
According to Bill McInturff, one of Republican pollsters that helped conduct the poll, these numbers are “a telling scratch” in Obama’s armor that may hurt Democrats in 2014.
“If ever there is an edge that falls off in the president’s core support, that is always very meaningful in an off-year election,” he said.