Twenty-six percent (26%) of voters nationwide say President Obama did a good or excellent job answering a press conference question about an incident involving a white Cambridge, Massachusetts policeman and a black Harvard professor. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% rate the president’s response as poor.

But Americans are evenly divided as to whether or not the question - asked by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times - was appropriate to ask at a presidential press conference. Forty-one percent (41%) say it was appropriate while 43% disagree.

The president was asked about the arrest of a prominent African-America professor at Harvard and the professor's subsequent complaint of racial profiling. While admitting he did not know all the details and acknowledging that the professor was a personal friend, the president said the police acted "stupidly" when they arrested Henry Louis Gates.

Beneath the top line numbers is a huge gap between the way that white and black Americans view the situation.

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Seventy-one percent (71%) of African-Americans say the president’s response was good or excellent, a view shared by just 22% of white Americans.

At the other extreme, 53% of white voters gave the president’s response a poor grade. Only five percent (5%) of black Americans offered such a negative response.

African-Americans, by a two-to-one margin, say the question was inappropriate. Whites are fairly evenly divided on the appropriateness of the question.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of African-American voters believe that most blacks receive unfair treatment from the police. Just 21% of white voters share that view (Premium Members can see full demographic crosstabs).

Thirty-two percent (32%) of black voters say that most policemen are racist, but 52% disagree.

Among white voters, just seven percent (7%) believe that most policemen are racist and 71% say they are not.

On a partisan basis, 50% of Democrats say the president’s response was good or excellent. White Democrats are less supportive than black Democrats. The president’s response earned a poor rating from 77% of Republicans and 52% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Liberals, by a two-to-one margin believe that most African-Americans are treated unfairly by the police. A solid plurality of unaffiliateds and a majority of Republicans disagree.

About the only area of common ground is that people of all parties, ideologies and races have been following the news story about Gates and the Cambridge policeman. Overall, 75% say they’re paying attention, including 51% who say they’re following it very closely.

The survey was conducted on Friday and Saturday, following significant efforts by the White House to move beyond this issue. The president called both the police officer and the professor with the suggestion that the three of them share a beer at the White House.

The president’s Wednesday night press conference where he was asked about the Gates incident was intended to help promote his health care reform plan. Opposition has been growing to his plan. On the eve of the press conference, 53% of voters were opposed to the proposal.

Following the press conference, the president’s job approval ratings fell to new lows. The president’s performance still earns approval from roughly half the nation’s voters. That’s a decent rating, but the last month has seen a downward trend in his numbers.

Obama benefits from the fact that 54% believe that President George W. Bush is still primarily to blame for the nation’s economic problems. But just 25% believe that Obama’s economic stimulus package has helped the economy. Thirty-one percent (31%) say it has hurt.

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