Ageism May be a Bigger Barrier in Presidential Election than Racism (or Sexism).

About half of all adults say that the people they know might hesitate to vote for a woman, an African-American or a candidate over 70

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The results of the 2008 presidential election will make history and break precedents regardless of who wins. The winner will be the first sitting senator to be elected president in 48 years. The winner will be either the first African-American president or the oldest first-term president. And, the first woman vice-president may be elected.

Toward that end, a new Harris Poll seeks to measure the likely impact of prejudice based on the race, gender or age of the candidates. The poll suggests that racism, sexism and ageism are all potentially powerful factors that can inhibit people from voting for a black, female or older candidate. The results also suggest that ageism - specifically John McCain's age - is potentially a more serious barrier to election than racism - specifically Barack Obama's race.

This Harris Poll was conducted with 2,710 adults who were surveyed online between August 11 and 17, 2008 before John McCain nominated Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Key findings of the poll include:

* More people (36%) say that it would be a bad thing if someone over 70 were elected president than would feel this way if an African-American (11%) or a woman (12%) were elected. More people say that it would be a good thing if a black (38%) or a woman (34%) was elected than think it would be good to elect someone over 70 (10%).

* Attitudes to electing an African-American or someone over 70 are, of course, closely related to party identification. Fully 52 percent of Democrats but only 17 percent of Republicans think it would be good to elect a black president. And a similar proportion (52%) of Democrats thinks it would be bad to elect someone over 70, a view shared by only 18 percent of Republicans.

* While most people say they would be neither pleased nor displeased if a black, female or a candidate over 70 were elected, the remainder are much more likely to say they would be pleased than displeased by the election of a woman (by 37% to 11%) or an African-American (by 30% to 11%). However, they are much more likely to be displeased than pleased (by 32% to 9%) if someone over 70 is elected. Most people (72%) say that the sex, age or race of the candidate should make "absolutely no difference."

Our research experience suggests that these results may underestimate the number of people who might be influenced by prejudices such as sexism, ageism, or racism because some people are reluctant to admit to their prejudices or may believe they are not prejudiced when they are. Harris Interactive therefore included a so-called projective question in which people were asked if they thought that people they knew might hesitate to vote for a candidate because of his or her race, sex or age. Far more people said yes to this question than admitted to being influenced themselves. Fully 52 percent of all adults believe that people they know would be at least somewhat hesitant to vote for someone over 70, while almost as many believe that people they know would be somewhat hesitant to vote for an African-American (48%) or a woman (45%).

So What?

These findings leave no doubt that Barack Obama's race and John McCain's age are potentially big factors in the 2008 presidential election, however, it is much less clear how big these factors will be. It is not so much the race or age of a candidate that matters as the extent to which a candidate looks, talks and behaves like an old person or a black candidate that makes the biggest difference. Some candidates seem to trigger more prejudice than others, and the importance of Obama's race and McCain's age may well change between now and Election Day, influenced by events, smear tactics or political advertising.

Methodology

This Harris Poll([R]) was conducted online within the United States between August 11 and 17, 2008 among 2,710 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology for this study can be found at www.harrisinteractive.com

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

J34911

Q776, 780, 786, 791

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.