GARY LANGER, ABC News
- Barack Obama’s candidacy for president both underscores sharp racial divides in this country and offers avenues for progress: Political engagement by blacks is up sharply, Americans across racial lines think the 2008 campaign will change blacks’ self-image for the better and most see Obama’s nomination as a sign of broader racial progress.
It’s already fostered pride and involvement alike. Blacks are following the election more intensely than other Americans, at a level unseen in the last three presidential elections. They’re more apt than Americans of other races to have contributed money or time to a political campaign this year. And voter registration by blacks is higher than in pre-election polls since 1984.
