Garbage Up, Garbage Down

Before the last election, polls suggested people believed Obama winning would improve race relations.  I thought that was pretty silly.  Now a Rasmussen poll says the public is far less optimistic about race relations than they were last year.  This is equally silly.

Nothing has changed much.  The trouble is with a President who is to many a symbol of race in America, when he's doing well, that's a positive sign, and when he's not doing well, that's a negative one.  Better not to freight his popularity with such baggage, but apparently people can't help it.

(I'm not always convinced by the arguments in the Rasmussen article I link to.  It suggests prominent Democrats claiming opposition to Obama's health care plan was motivated by racism helped create this present situation, but I'd guess it's just part of the ongoing perception that Obama's fate tracks with race relations.  It also states "Confidence in relations with Hispanics has undoubtedly been soured by the growing national concern with illegal immigration, which many view largely as a problem coming from Mexico."  Undoubtedly?  Even if you think views on immigration are relevant, the national concern with illegal immigration has been pretty high for a number of years--the least Rasmussen could do is provide evidence that people are more concerned now than they were one, two, three or four years ago.)