Re:Imagine 1985 heard 2015 would have AIDS cures, gay marria...
by melling on Friday June 26, 2015 @09:59PM
(#9788770)
79% in 1987 was probably high enough to win. Jesse Jackson ran in 1984 so it wasn't a foreign idea. I'm sure a well-spoken Harvard graduate could have won then too.
"The willingness to vote for a black for president was at 37% in 1958, when Gallup first included the category in its survey tests. That number rose through the 1960s and into the 1970s, although, as recently as 1987, only 79% of Americans said they would vote for a black person for president. By 1997 that number had risen to 93%, and it is now at 95%."
Gallup has been tracking people's willingness to vote for members of various demographic groups since 1937 (!).
http://www.gallup.com/poll/3979/americans-today-much-more-ac...
http://www.gallup.com/poll/155285/atheists-muslims-bias-pres...
http://www.gallup.com/poll/183713/socialist-presidential-can...
They've changed the questions in the survey somewhat over time. (I'd love to see all of the historical data in this survey.)
If you think that any of these things is irrelevant to someone's being president, and you think the poll is accurate (so people don't overstate or understate their opposition to having presidents with particular characteristics), these are probably the numbers that you should be worried about if you hope people will focus on the "best person for the job". After all, lots of people in each year have told Gallup that they would be moved by these factors -- many of which you may see as irrelevant.