Obama Update: Support Amongst Voters of African-Descent

[Infinite Hope]

By BETH FOUHY and ERIN TEXEIRA, Associated Press Writers Mon Jan 29, 7:07 AM ET

NEW YORK - Being black doesn't necessarily mean White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) has a lock on black voters. In wooing a faithful Democratic constituency, Obama faces two-term New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the party front-runner who enjoys strong support in the black community. She also is married to former President Clinton, so wildly popular among black voters that novelist Toni Morrison dubbed him "the first black president" in a 1998 essay.

Obama also must contend with John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee who has won praise from black leaders for his commitment to fighting poverty. It was Edwards who recently addressed a high-profile New York commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. — at the invitation of the slain civil rights leader's son.

"It will be a challenge because (Obama) will be competing against people who have relationships in the black community," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice in the 1980s.

Jackson, who won 13 primaries and caucuses in 1988, said he is leaning toward supporting Obama's candidacy but hasn't made an endorsement. His son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, is backing Obama.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070129/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_black_voters_5">More...

[blondeatlast]

1. Guess what? ANY winning candidate needs the black vote,

and the white vote, and the woman vote, and the gay vote.

Like any other candidate, he needs to earn his support. Don't buy the media's self-loving blather. Please.

It's a tlking point, and a crappy one at best.

And let me state for the record, I have NO candidate in mind; I just don't want to see DU fall for the media's spew.

[stevebreeze]

2. That just shows the discerning eye of the black voters

Jackson didn't get such large support, err and my vote too, by being black he got it because he connected with people on economic issues. The fact that he is not getting knee jerk support only means people don't necessarily know were he stands on many issues, which is in the end more important to most thinking people then his skin tone.

[MrRobotsHolyOrders]

3. These articles are retarded

And you left this out:

"For all his promise, Obama is a relatively new face on the national political scene and remains unknown to many voters, including blacks."

[Infinite Hope]

4. I was asked to limit it to 4 paragraphs. I didn't leave it out. It was linked from my article.

That's how you were able to read it.

I picked the four I felt were most substantive and, since the article provided, I also chose paragraphs showing both sides of the "black support." The link provided showed the rest of the article. Nothing was left out unless Yahoo News left it out of the article. There were so many important paragraphs in that article that no matter which ones were chosen, someone would bitch.

[MrRobotsHolyOrders]

5. Blah blah x infinity

The article, and every single one like it, try to act like Obama has been "found out" by the black community, when in reality there's a huge portion of the population that doesn't even know who he is.

[Infinite Hope]

21. Of course there are many who don't know who he is.

That's part of the point of the article. The article and political scientists and black leaders alike say he's going to have to earn his support just like any other candidate. That's correct. To think Obama will get black support for free is to sell black individuals short.

[knowledgeispwr]

6. Not retarded...

I think articles like this are good. They show that blacks are not a monolith with one mind and one thought and that they don't automatically support (or not support) people based on skin color.

Too many in America, including the much of the media, act like there is a 'black community' with one mindset.

[beaconess]

8. The problem with the article is not that is suggests that blacks are not a monolith . . .

but that it the writer and editors think that this fact is unusual enough to comment on.

[Infinite Hope]

22. It's not because the fact is unusual. It's because the realization of it is unusual.

While we here on DU understand the simple concept that blacks are individuals, society at large constantly and consistently treats the black community as a monolith. It can be seen everywhere. Black leaders are constantly speaking out against it. Sharpton pointed to it throughout the 2004 campaign as he is now. I'm glad the media is finally showing it so that black people and black candidates can be viewed as independent-minded individuals.

It's one of the best things that can happen for Obama - the message will hopefully drive the message home far ahead of the 2008 election.

[beaconess]

23. I agree with most of what you say

Unfortunately, however, while I'd like to believe it, I can't agree that everyone on DU thinks that way - as evidenced by some of the bizarre and insulting posts we've seen in recent weeks. I hope that this is a learning experience for everyone.

[Infinite Hope]

24. Well, I guess you're right about that. n/t

[MrRobotsHolyOrders]

9. But that's not what the article is about

The article proceeds to tell you that blacks arent convinced about Obama based on polling numbers, and then doesn't identify the fact that like you say, the community isn't a monolith. There's this expectation that among black americans, his name ID should be 90% right off the bat.

http://www.pollster.com/mystery_pollster/obama_clinton_among_africaname.php

Mark Blumenthal broke it down, and Obama was 40% unknown in the last, "Black people don't like Obama" CBS poll, while Hillary was at less than 3%. Its just an intellectualy dishonest way to characterize it.

[beaconess]

7. This is a bullshit story - assuming that it's an anomaly for black voters to vote based on something

other than race.

No such assumption is ever made about white voters. I don't see any stories suggesting that Edwards or Clinton or Kucinich or Vilsak or Biden will hav have any difficulty with the "white" vote. Probably because no rational observer assumes there's any such thing. Only black folk seem to get lumped together and subjected to stories like this expressing amazement that "by dang, those colored people are actually thinking for themselves!"

[Dean Martin]

10. The comment about Hillary in the article is interesting because....

I only know ONE black person who likes her, and she is a lady who grew up middle class. I don't know any who grew up in projects who like either her or Bill.

[Colobo]

11. Obama is not known

Even in the Latino community, which I form part of (I'm a black Latin American, by the way)... :)

[beaconess]

12. How many black people do you know?

I know a whole heap of 'em and probably 95% of them LOVE Bill Clinton.

Where've you been hanging out? :-)

[Dean Martin]

13. well.....

My girlfriend and her family, my neighbors, a coworker, people I used to work with, most of whom grew up and lived in the projects....

I'd say probably no more than 30 that I know personally, but through them link to many more they've told me about who also never cared for the Clintons. But for that matter, most of them don't trust anyone connected with authority, especially when it comes to the government. The one lady I know who did like him is middle class.

[beaconess]

14. That's interesting - in my experience, you couldn't throw a rock just about anywhere and not hit

a black person who thinks Bill Clinton hung the moon. Certainly, not all black people feel that way, but I have found he is enormously popular among black folk.

Chris Rock has a hilarious routine about why blacks love Bill Clinton - he says it's because white people treat him so bad he might as well be a brother. Rock says that when Clinton goes into McDonald's and hands them a 20, the clerk holds it up to the light to see if it's counterfeit. In fact, it was Chris Rock, not Toni Morrison, who first said that Clinton was the first black president. :-)

[Dean Martin]

15. I think Clinton did some good things but.....

From the perspective of these folks I've discussed this stuff with, no one we've had since Kennedy has done anything for them. One failed program after another from their eyes. Most of them have come to now believe that the government in general just wants to ensure that they will stay in the ghetto and not take white people's jobs and suburban neighborhoods from them. And to be honest, I sometimes feel that way myself. Very few of the people I know vote, they say it's a waste of time. My fiance points out Jesse Jackson, who as she said "They very quickly made it very clear that he would have no chance at all at getting elected in white America."

She and I both like Obama very much. I like him better than anyone else who's ever run for president in my lifetime (I've been voting since 1980). Whenever I discuss Obama with anyone the topic comes up that "they will not allow a black man to be elected president in this country."

I'd love to think they're wrong, but I really don't know that they are.

[beaconess]

16. Please don't be discouraged - Jesse Jackson ran 20 years ago

much has changed since then - even Jesse Jackson continues to actively work in politics - he certainly wouldn't do this if he thought that blacks had no chance.

I really think that there are some white folks out there who want nothing more than to keep blacks from exercising our rights. But they can't lynch us, can't block the pollhouse doors, can't run us out of town. So they use stealth - and what better way to keep us from voting than to convince us that we are so powerless that our vote won't count. They don't have to push us down if we duck and stay down on our own.

Please, please don't assume that a black person can't win. Obama may or may not win - but we can't assume, especially in advance before a single vote is cast or counted, that he will lose. That's just playing into the hands of people who want nothing more than to keep us from making any progress. Please don't play into their hands!!!

[Dean Martin]

17. Oh, I'm not, but how do you tell someone that in the projects?

..who has lived their entire life and never gotten a break? Both me and my fiance are hoping like mad Obama gets the nomination.

[beaconess]

18. I've spent a lot of time organizing in the projects and find people there have more hope than most

It's a myth that the poor and minorities don't vote. We do. In fact, blacks vote in higher percentages than whites in many instances.

One thing that's important to do is not wait until a couple of months before the election to reach out to people. Political involvement has to be an everyday, every year thing, not something that we ask poor people to do every two or four years when we need their vote. One of the things about Obama that I think will resonate with people is that he spent several years working in the projects, every day, interacting with, helping, supporting people that most politicians only see at election time. The more people learn about him, I think the more they'll be moved by him. Not to mention the fact that he knows much more about real people than most people in the race, having lived in their world, not just observing it.

And you can bet that with Obama in the race, black folk will turn out to vote - whether for him or someone else. I remember in 1984 and 1988 how excited and energized black people were with Jesse Jackson in the race - people were so proud and pumped because they felt, for the first time, that they were actually in the game, even if they weren't going to win. You can never underestimate the value of people feeling that they're actually "in the room."

[Dean Martin]

19. Obama is the best candidate, period.

He has the best ideas, the best thoughts, the best everything. No one on the political spectrum has ever come along like Obama in my lifetime. I think he'd be one of the best presidents this country could ever have.

[beaconess]

20. I think he's great, too. He'd be a refreshing change, wouldn't he?

Even just having him in the race makes all the difference in the world, regardless whether he wins or not.

[Nedsdag]

26. Actually, it was another African American comic

Paul Mooney who was the first one to call Clinton black.

[Nedsdag]

25. I'm black and I like Clinton

Bill, not Hillary.

[noonwitch]

27. He'll make a good running mate for Hillary, or any other candidate

He balances Hillary out well, and the two can totally get a lock on the minority vote and the female vote.

Obama would also be a good VP choice for Edwards.

I pray daily that the voters are smart enough to keep Biden from the nomination.