Majority of Americans say US on wrong track

US congress building

Americans are divided along racial lines but agree that the United States is on the wrong track and the economy is the top priority, according to an opinion poll conducted by USA Today, ABC News and Columbia University released yesterday.

Eighty percent of blacks and Hispanics and 76 percent of whites surveyed said the economy should be the next president's highest priority.

Seventy-eight percent of all respondents said the country was on the wrong track. Broken down along racial lines, 77 percent of whites held that view, 91 percent of blacks and 74 percent of Hispanics.

However, the survey finds a sharp racial divide over who the next president will be.

Seven in 10 blacks expect Barack Obama, the first African American to be nominated for president by a major party, to defeat Senator John McCain in the Nov 4 election, the poll found.

Among registered voters, blacks support Democratic presidential nominee Obama by 92 percent to 4 percent. Hispanics back the Illinois senator by 57 percent to 33 percent.

Whites support Republican nominee McCain by 56 percent to 36 percent, the poll found.

Among the 13 percent of blacks who predict McCain will prevail, racism was the reason most often cited.

The 50 percent of whites who expect the Arizona senator to win were more likely to cite the candidates' levels of experience as the reason. Only 5 percent of whites who say McCain will win say racism is the key factor.

The telephone survey was conducted between September 11-14, just before news hit of the scale of the economic crisis that has prompted the Bush administration to propose a massive bailout plan for Wall Street.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus two percentage points.

美国广播公司（ABC News）和哥伦比亚大学昨日公布的一项民意调查显示，美国人虽有种族之分，但多数美国人一致认为美国现行的国家路线不正确，而且经济应该是国家的头等大事。

该项由《今日美国》开展的调查显示，80%的黑人和西班牙裔以及76%的白人认为，经济应是下任总统需考虑的首要问题。

调查显示，78%的受访者认为国家走错了方向。关于“路线”问题的看法种族分歧并不明显，分别有77%的白人、91%的黑人和74%的西班牙裔持这一观点。

但有关谁将成为下任总统问题的看法却存在明显分歧。

民调显示，70%的黑人受访者认为民主党候选人奥巴马能在11月4日的大选中战胜共和党候选人约翰•麦凯恩，成为美国下任总统。奥巴马是美国历史上首位被主要政党提名的非裔总统候选人。

此外，奥巴马和麦凯恩在黑人注册选民中的支持率分别为92%和4%，在西班牙裔中分别为57%和33%。

而在白人选民中，麦凯恩和这位伊利诺斯州议员的支持率分别为56%和36%。

在13%预测麦凯恩将赢得大选的黑人受访者看来，种族是决定竞选结果的主要因素。

而50%支持这位亚利桑那州议员的白人受访者则认为，候选人的经验是主要因素，仅有5%的人认为种族最重要。

这项电话调查于本月11日至14日开展，此后美国便遭受了华尔街金融危机的重袭，为了应对危机，布什政府提出了一项庞大的金融救助计划。

该调查的误差率为正负2%。