Response by Rick Thigpen

The Democrats enter the 2008 Presidential Election with an electorate clearly dissatisfied with the Republican President and his conduct of an unpopular war that has no end in sight. The Democrats ability to capitalize on this opportunity may be significantly affected by Americans' attitudes about race and gender.

The first 43 American Presidents have been white males but neither of the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination are . It is not clear whether the American electorate will be ready tomorrow to do what it has never done before. It is unclear how primary voters will react to uncertainty about the general election prospects of Clinton or Obama .

Will Obama's political strategy enable him to surpass the performance of the 1988 Jackson campaign? I think not. And this survey suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done before America puts a woman in the White House.

see also:
Survey Analysis
Tabular Results
Survey Details

Comment by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Academic Associate, Rick Thigpen (J.D., Columbia University Law School). Rick is a former Executive Director of the New Jersey Democratic Party, now a principal in 1868 Public Affairs. He is also a campaign coordinator for the Essex County Democratic Party. Rick Thigpen, Esq. can be reached at (609) 394-0888.