Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times
- In next month’s gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia — widely seen as a referendum on the Democrats running the White House and Congress — one constituency may stay home.
African American voters, crucial to Barack Obama’s success in those two states in last year’s presidential races, are telling pollsters they don’t plan to vote in the off-year elections. In a recent poll in Virginia, the Washington Post found that while African Americans made up 20% of the electorate last year, just 12% are expected to show up this year.
The poll also suggested a wider problem for Dems — many white voters who helped lift Obama to the White House last year may also stay home. Call it a backlash against Washington’s policies on the economy, healthcare and Wall Street, a massive infusion of government spending that has still left unemployment rates soaring.
