Obama's Unfavorables In Ohio: Is Racism Behind The Numbers?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- An Ohio Poll released today by the University of Cincinnati shows 27 percent of white Democrats in the state have an unfavorable opinion of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy. In fact, whites gave the African American Illinois senator the highest unfavorable rating among the five possible Democratic nominees whose popularity and name recognition were plumbed and measured. And less than half of Ohio's white Democrats view the black senator favorably. The random sampling of 321 registered voters was conducted Oct. 19-31 by the University of Cincinnati's institute for policy research, and it appeared to expose a vein of possible racism in the Democratic electorate.

What else might explain why the only the only African-American candidate fared worse among whites than even U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose campaign is going nowhere? Is there another possible reason for Obama's unfavorables other than skin color? The poll even notes that as Obama has increased his name recognition, his favorable rating has dropped -- an indication white people may have discovered he is a black man.

The full-text of the Ohio Poll (pdf) is here and the Democratic favorable/unfavorable ratings are on pages seven and eight.

Here are they broken down by race:

Hillary Clinton -- Af/Am Favorable 86%; Unfavorable 4%
White Fav 67%; Unfav. 22%

John Edwards -- Af/Am Favorable 29%; Unfavorable 10%
White Fav 63%; Unfav 15%

Dennis Kucinich -- Af/Am Favorable 19%; Unfavorable 10%
White Fav 29%; Unfav 21%

Barack Obama -- Af/Am Favorable 75%; Unfavorable N/A
White Fav 47%; Unfav 27%

Al Gore -- Af/Am Favorable 75%; Unfavorable 5%
White Fav 67%; Unfav 21%

The poll makes to effort to explain why white Democrats in Ohio have a lower opinion of Obama than they have of Kucinich, D-10, the Cleveland congressman. Kucinich's presidential campaign has demonstrated no signs of significant support among the Democratic electorate.

The poll said only that:

"Obama's name recognition has increased by nine percentage points since May. However, his net favorability rating decreased by nine percentage points since that time. By contrast, Clinton's net favorability rating has increased by eight percentage points since the last Ohio Poll.

"Gore's net favorability rating has increased by 11 percentage points in the wake of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. While speculation about a Gore campaign has continued, earlier this week Gore repeated his position that he does not intend to run for public office in 2008."

New Poll: Rush Limbaugh Is The Limburger Cheese Of Journalism

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Limburger cheese is so pungent and overpowering to the olfactory senses that there have long been gags and cartoons about the necessity for gas masks when a package is opened. And everybody knows the old nursery rhyme that ends when the ''cheese stands alone." Now talkmeister Rush Limbaugh -- a big cheese as a radio pundit -- stands alone as the most disliked person among the nation's most recognizable media and journalistic figures.

He owns the highest unfavorable rating in a field of 15 pundits and network broadcasters. Still, he manages to draw big audiences. There seems to be a disconnect -- he's unpopular yet Americans tune in.

In fact, broadcaster Limbaugh wins the the dislike derby by several wavelenghts. The caustic, conservative, pudgy, rich and extremely opinionated broadcaster has a "very unfavorable" number, 41%, that makes FOX News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, 23%, look like a saint. Ann Coulter's "very unfavorable" is 24% -- the conservative potty-mouth polemicist doesn't get anywhere near Big Cheese Limbaugh. Coulter raised a big stink by using an anti-gay slur against former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, a slur that has cost Coulter newspaper clients and made her a pariah in some rightwing circles. Looks like the stink couldn't overpower the limburger effect.

Limbaugh's overall unpopularity rating stands at 62%, which is a Mt. Everest peak that no one else among the media's Big Feet come anywhere near scaling.

The polling on Media Favorables/Unfavorables was conducted by Rasmussen Reports and released last week as part of its routine tracking of the 2008 U.S. presidential race. Rasmussen found that politicians as a rule were better liked than so-called journalists, and that Limbaugh stunk up the numbers.

"Ideology doesn't appear to be the determining factor when it comes to ratings for reporters. While (Katie) Couric tops the list of favorables, Bill O'Reilly is in second place at 44%. The highest unfavorables are earned by Rush Limbaugh (62%) and Larry King (46%)."

Couric also had the highest favorable (48%) but was way lower than former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led all with a 70% rating. Limbaugh is heard by some 20 million Americans each weekday and the reach of his show is said to have saved AM radio. Limbaugh has a big Web site, too, that is HERE.