The Racially Divisive President

There is the largest black-white divide in history over Obama's job performance. It's pretty stunning:

Those opinion differences are clear in the traditional "right track-wrong track" question, a key indicator of the public's mood. Thirty-four percent of whites say the country is headed in the right direction, while 56 percent believe it is "seriously off track." For black Americans, 70 percent say the country is headed in the right direction, with just 23 percent saying it is off track. (According to the U.S. Census, blacks make up about 13 percent of the population, while whites make up about 80 percent. The Times poll divided respondents into black and white, with no other groups reported.)

Blacks also have a more positive view than whites of the Obama economy overall. Twenty-seven percent of black respondents say the economy is "very good" or "fairly good," while 34 percent rate it "fairly bad" and 39 percent rate it "very bad." Among whites, just 10 percent call the economy "fairly good" (none say it is "very good"), while 42 percent say it is "fairly bad" and 47 percent say it is "very bad." In addition, 41 percent of blacks say the economy is getting better, while just 24 percent of whites agree.

What happened to the post-racial presidency? This is about as lopsided as it gets.