28
throughout the first half of 1981 none of the poll results reported any breakdowns of opinions by
race. It wasn’t until May of 1981, after the Reagan administration had secured passage of much
of their key agenda items in the form of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (see below for
detailed discussion), that racial breakdowns started to be reported in Wirthlin’s reports.
53
Without overstating the significance of this, particularly because Wirthlin may have had results
by race but didn’t report them, it nonetheless seems particularly curious considering that the
same opinion surveys did report results for questions concerning: public trust in the president’s
capacity to address “racial problems”
54
; race relations as a pressing public issue
55
; and opinions
regarding government spending to improve the quality of life for blacks
56
.
The administration clearly wanted to know how the public – not blacks – felt about racial
issues. DMI’s apparent lack of concern with black opinion the issues that were the subject of
their polls, coupled with the fact that they were interested in public perceptions of racial issues,
strongly suggests that the administration wanted to know about the political importance of race
to their constituents. This is crucial distinction. Race was a concern to the administration during
their effort to reorient national politics around reducing, rather than expanding, the social welfare
programs of the Great Society and of the New Deal. But this concern was not directed at
53
See the Wirthlin Decision/Making/Information books in Chapman, Bruce, WHSF, Boxes 1-5: “A National Survey
of Public Attitudes for the Republican National Committee, January 1981”; “A National Survey of Public Attitudes,
Eagle II & III, for the Republican National Committee, February 1981, Volumes 1 and 2”. Racial breakdowns first
appear in Wirthlin’s May 1981 Report: “A National Survey of Public Attitudes, Eagle VII, for the Republican
National Committee”, Volume 1 of 3. RRPL. See page 15 for example.
54
See Chapman, Bruce, WHSF, Decision/Making/Information, Box 2, file: RNC / National Eagle II / 2761 / Feb.
1981, Table 556, Copy 2 of 4 [8], p. 254, RRPL. The table shows that 56% believed that Reagan will be able to deal
with racial problems, while 22% believed that “No president could.”
55
See Chapman, Bruce, WHSF, Decision/Making/Information, Box 3, Volume 1 of 2, Analysis section, p.
21.RRPL. DMI reports that seven major issues were presented to the respondent, who were asked whether the issue
was extremely important. The results were: “Reduce inflation 96%, Reduce government waste 88, Reduce
government spending 78, Reduce unemployment 77, Improve U.S. defense 72, Deal with the Russians 63, Deal with
racial problems 50”.
56
See Chapman, Bruce, WHSF, Decision/Making/Information, Box 2, file: RNC / National Eagle II / 2761 / Feb.
1981, Table 288, Copy 2 of 4 [8], p. 156. RRPL. The table shows that 41% believed that government should spend
the same to “improve the conditions of blacks”, while 21% believed that more should be spent, with a tax increase
and 24% believed less should be spent...
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