Despite their professed love for Oprah and Bill Cosby, more than half of Whites harbor Archie Bunker-like attitudes toward African-Americans. And that has tremendous implications not only for the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, but for how African-Americans are viewed in the United States.

Much of the coverage of a recent joint poll by the Associated Press and Yahoo News has centered on the finding that one-third of Democrats expressed negative views of African-Americans, calling them “lazy” and “violent.”

However, a more disturbing finding – at least to me – was that more than half of Whites expressed more negative attitudes toward Blacks than Whites.

Respondents were given a series of words and asked, “How well does each of these words describe most blacks?”

Among the findings:

• Asked about “complaining,” 11 percent of Whites said the description fits most Blacks extremely well, 18 percent said very well and 28 percent said moderately well, a total of 57 percent.

• When given the word “boastful,” 7 percent of Whites said that describes most Blacks extremely well, 14 percent said very well and 31 percent said moderately well, a total of 52 percent.

• When the word “violent” was applied, 7 percent said it describes most Blacks extremely well, 13 percent said very well and 28 percent said moderately well, a total of 48 percent.

• When given the word “irresponsible,” 4 percent of Whites said that describes most Blacks extremely well, 7 percent said very well and 29 percent said moderately well, a total of 40 percent.

• Five percent of Whites said the word “lazy” describes most Blacks extremely well, 8 percent said very well and 25 percent said moderately well, a total of 38 percent.

Answers to other questions by Whites also provided some interesting responses. Pollsters provided this statement: “Generations of slavery have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work their way out of the lower class.” Of the White respondents, only 4 percent strongly agreed with that statement and 15 percent somewhat agreed. On the other hand, 22 percent strongly disagreed and 22 percent somewhat disagreed.

Pollsters also provided this statement: “Over the past few years, blacks have gotten LESS than they deserve.” Only 2 percent of whites strongly agreed with that statement and 11 percent somewhat agreed. By contrast, 22 percent of Whites strongly disagreed and 22 percent somewhat disagreed.

Another statement: “Most blacks who receive money from welfare programs could get along without it if they tried.” Eighteen percent of Whites strongly agree and 28 percent somewhat agree, a total of 46 percent. Only 7 percent of Whites strongly disagreed with that statement and 13 percent somewhat disagreed.

None of this should come as a complete shock to any of us. Previous national polls have confirmed that when it comes to race, Blacks and Whites do not share the same view of reality.

The Associated Press/Yahoo News poll was consistent with previous surveys. Asked, “How much of the racial tension that exists in the United States today do you think blacks are responsible for creating?” 54 percent of Whites said “some,” 31 percent said “most” and 5 percent said “all of it.”

As gloomy as the poll findings may seem, that does not necessarily mean that Obama can not be elected president. We should not forget that Bill Clinton was elected twice without capturing a majority of the White vote. Similarly, Obama needs only to win a significant segment of Whites in order to be successful.

That means that two key groups – young people and African-Americans – must register and vote in record numbers in order to defeat John McCain on Nov. 4. Obama has already proven that he can win virtually all-White states in the West and compete with McCain in the battleground states and in the South. But he must do more.

Obama must maintain focus on McCain’s record. Skip all of this nonsense about Sarah Palin; she’s a sideshow. As Clinton reminded George H.W. Bush, it’s the economy, stupid. McCain can’t have it both ways. He can’t argue for fewer government regulations – as he has most of his career in Congress – and now portray himself as a Wall Street reformist.

Anyone who can’t readily recall how many homes he has should not be allowed to depict his opponent as an elitist. An elitist is one who gets in and out of the U.S. Naval Academy largely on the strength of his father and father’s father being admirals.

In many respects, this presidential election will be a referendum on White attitudes. Will Whites who say they oppose the war in Iraq and reject George W. Bush’s economic policies vote in their best interest or will they remained blinded by racial prejudice? That is a question that will be answered on Nov. 4.