Jack & Jill Politics

From Politico (emphasis mine):

Eighty-six percent of white Democrats now support Obama, roughly equal to what John F. Kerry earned in 2004. Until the economic crisis began, that number had been in the 70s, on par with Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Clinton in 1992.

More than eight in 10 white working-class Democrats now back Obama, roughly a 20-percentage-point rise compared with the week before the Democratic convention.

Obama also splits white independents with McCain, with 46 percent backing each candidate, a performance unseen by a Democrat since Clinton in 1996. In the past week, Obama’s support has slightly waned with independent white working-class men, the largest group of independents. But he has gained with women in the same bloc.

Until the market collapse, Obama was narrowly losing white Catholics. He’s now opened up a 54 percent to 39 percent lead, according to Pew.

While Obama’s support among whites under age 30 has long been stronger than recent Democratic nominees, he’s now within single digits among white voters age 50 to 64 as well as seniors, according to Pew.

Wow. It’s so on. Obama is now closing the deal with working class whites.

But of course, don’t get too excited. The press really needs you to worry about the race “tightening” and also the Bradley effect of white folks who lie. Umm, huh? Same article…

It remains to be seen if Obama’s polling numbers among whites translate into support within the privacy of the election booth. About one in five voters say they “personally” know someone who will “not vote for Obama because he is black.”