Poll Tracker

There has been much said and written about whether there is a changing of the guard in the leadership of the black community in the wake of the Jesse Jackson flap in which he accused Barack Obama of "talking down to black people" and threw in some extra choice words about what he might like to do to Obama. Gallup weighs in today with a survey, based on data collected June 5-July 6 on who black Americans saw today as the lead spokesman on issues of race.

Obama far outpaced everyone else with 29 percent, but 49 percent selected someone else, 7 percent said "no one" and 9 percent had no opinion. Obama was followed by Al Sharpton at 6 percent, Jackson at 4 percent, Bill and Hillary Clinton both at 3 percent and Oprah Winfrey at 2 percent. The poll was conducted before the Jackson controversy broke into the news.

Expectations for what an Obama victory might mean for opportunities for blacks are positive but somewhat tempered. Sixty-five percent believe they will get better but only 23 percent say "a lot better." Fifty-six percent of all adults believe they would get better but, there too, only 16 percent say "a lot better." If Obama loses, a plurality of blacks - 45 percent - believe the state of race relations will not change while 16 percent say they will get a little worse and 18 percent say a lot worse. Seventy-four percent of all adults and 85 percent of blacks believe an Obama victory will signal progress in race relations and about 8 in 10 of all adults, and all blacks, say it will open up opportunities for other blacks in politics

You can find more background on attitudes of black Americans in a study released last November by the Pew Research Center and National Public Radio.