Poll: Majority of voters ready for black; woman president
92 percent of Americans are willing to vote for a black presidential candidate, while 86 percent said they would vote for a woman.
Large majorities of US voters say they are ready to vote for an African-American or a woman for president, according to a poll published Friday by Newsweek magazine.
However, smaller majorities of voters believed the country was ready to accept a black or woman president.
When asked if the United States was ready for a black president, 59 percent said yes, while 58 percent said the country was ready for a woman in the White House.
Two-thirds of respondents, 66 percent, said that there was a some chance they would vote for Senator Barack Obama, a black lawmaker in his first term. And 62 percent said the same when asked about Senator Hillary Clinton. Both are Democrats. No Republican woman or African American has entered the campaign.
When asked about a possible Hispanic candidate, 81 percent said they were ready to vote for one, but only 39 percent said the country was ready for a Hispanic president. That represents bad news for the only Hispanic candidate so far in the race, Democrat Bill Richardson.
In a head-to-head competition, the poll showed Clinton leading Obama 56 to 33 percent.
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