Zogby Poll: Most Americans (But Not Most Democrats Or Liberals) Oppose Race And Gender Preferences

By significant margins, a new Zogby Poll finds that most Americans continue to favor the “without regard” principle of colorblind equality. Notably, however, this majority does not include most liberals or Democrats, who are so far out of the mainstream on this issue that their feet aren’t even wet.

Zogby’s major finding: “Only one-third (34%) of likely voters support preferential treatment of women-owned or minority-owned businesses for government contract purposes….” That number becomes even more interesting, and more dramatic, when one considers the influence of what Zogby quaintly calls “certain demographic factors”:

Females are not only much more likely than males to support preferential treatment of women-owned businesses (42% vs 24%), they are also more likely than males to support preferential treatment of minority-owned businesses (36% vs. 26%).

Almost three-quarters of African Americans support preferential treatment for both minorities and women (74% and 72%, respectively), as opposed to only about one quarter of Whites (24% and 27%, respectively).

Even a substantial majority of women, it appears, oppose preferential treatment, and the ones who do support it are much more likely to favor it for themselves than for minorities.

Zogby also discovered (to his credit, he was not surprised) that “ideology is a factor as well”:

Liberals were significantly more likely than Conservatives to support preferential treatment for both women-owned businesses (65% vs. 11%) and minority-owned businesses (66% vs. 10%). Independents? support for women and minorities (22% and 20%, respectively) is closer to Republican levels of support (11% and 9%, respectively) than Democrats (61% and 62%, respectively).

In short, about 90% of Republicans and Conservatives (and 80% of Independents) oppose preferential treatment of women and minorities compared to about two thirds of Democrats and Liberals who support it.

Of course there’s nothing surprising here. Most polls (and actual votes on several state initiatives) show what a 2005 Zogby Poll found: “Americans Overwhelmingly Reject Race Preferences, Discrimination; Would Support Ballot Initiatives Banning Both.”

What all these polls reveal is the great gulf between a large majority of the American people and Democratic politicians (and their enablers in the media and academia) on this issue … and just how gutless most Republican politicians are in refusing to make a major issue of it.

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