Black Voters Warming Up To Sanders from 1% to 14%

[Catherina]

Last edited Mon Sep 14, 2015, 05:46 AM - Edit history (1)

It's worth reading the whole article. And going by my twitter feed and the AA networking we're doing there, the number is rising steadily.

Why Aren't More Black Voters Feeling the Bern?
Critics say the Sanders campaign needs to do a lot more to connect with black voters.
By Terrell Jermaine Starr / AlterNet
September 10, 2015


...

Black Voters Warming Up To Sanders, But Barely

In June, only 1 percent of black people had a favorable view of Sanders, according to Public Policy Polling. That number increased to 6 percent in July, and now, it’s at 14 percent. The uptick in favorability is a positive sign because it is still very early in the campaign season. The political strategists interviewed for this story believe Hillary Clinton doesn’t necessarily have the black vote locked down.

Roland Martin, managing editor and host of TV One’s African-American news show, NewsOne Now, says Sanders needs to tailor his economic message and be more consistent about it if he expects to earn a decent percentage of black votes.

“It has to be a strong economic message that speaks directly to black people,” Martin said. “I think what happens is that white progressives want to be able to speak in these general terms and not speak specifically to black people.”

...

“Voters still want some competitiveness in the Democratic primaries and having a different voice,” she said. “If he harnesses that voice and actually uses it, I think he could make some inroads, just because there is that opportunity to have some contrast to the lead candidate. He is making the largest gains in the primaries than the rest of the candidates. So that is an opportunity. Don’t forget in 2008 the bulk of African-American women were still with Hillary Clinton and candidate Obama migrated them away from her by investing in talking to them about issues that they care about.”

As for those claiming black people don’t want to vote for an old white guy, Carr has this response: “We were a little more sophisticated in voting for Obama for reasons other than him being a black man.”

...
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-arent-more-black-voters-feeling-bern#

[PADemD]

1. Has Roland Martin been listening?

Has Roland Martin been listening to Bernie's consistent economic message, or has he been part of the M$M which has, so far, ignored and ridiculed Bernie's candacy?

[Catherina]

15. I'm going to assume he has but not closely or consistently enough

because Bernie has been consistent but give it time. The race just started. It's unbiased, level-headed input like this that Bernie needs to get his message out above all that screeching about *white supremacists*, *racists*, *Socialist*, *CornelWest dissed a sitting Black President* etc.

This article is dated 10 September. I think Roland's point about tailoring some things specifically to Black people is a good one. Nothing major, just a little reworking of certain points, maybe more emphasis on this and less on that. I don't know if he did that today but Bernie's talk today was amazing, even better than yesterday's talk. There was some je ne sais quoi in it that reached my Blackness even deeper. And after it, if you saw the tweets from the sisters who either went or watched, they were glowing.

He talks about moms ripped from newborn babies to go back to work to earn a subsistence living. #FeelTheBern

He talks abt working families worried about leaving children at expensive child care, with no voice in the quality.

He talks about over 50% of black youth, unemployed or underemployed, and we want to fix that, now. #FeelTheBern

He talks about almost 70% of black HS dropouts ending up in jail, and makes us give a damn. #FeelTheBern

People like Roland are going to feel the Bern pretty soon

[mhatrw]

2. Those 14% are just the early adopters. n/t

[Catherina]

16. That be folks like us lol

and btw, you've got some great posts out there.

[merrily]

3. Thanks so much for posting this, Catherina.

The campaign has moved so fast, some tend to forget: in June, Bernie had yet to make his formal announcement and was getting into the race as unknown quantity, except to some political junkies.

The more people know him, the more they like him. I just wish the game weren't to rigged against him.

[Catherina]

18. I totally agree with what you wrote

and about the game being rigged too but we the people may just force them to unrig it quick because people are refusing establishment politics. I'm about to post this article in GDP "Hillary Clinton is about to make a huge mistake". Honestly? I encourage her and her supporters to keep doing exactly what they're doing. It's working out great. For Bernie.

It seems more and more likely that Clinton will be taking the same personal approach toward Sanders that she did with President Obama — i.e., that she is experienced and pragmatic and knows how to get things done in Washington, unlike the idealist Sanders. (Remember when Obama was the liberal idealist?)

This would be a serious mistake for the Clinton campaign. Not only did this approach fail last time around, but the political atmosphere in America has become even more anti-establishment over the past few years. Just look at the GOP race, where the two outsiders, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, are currently ahead of the establishment. The current disenchantment with the political status quo appears on both sides of the aisle, but the GOP establishment seems to be finally grasping this reality, and caved in to the Trump phenomenon. It is time for Clinton and the Democratic establishment to accept the reality that establishment politics are quickly losing their appeal to the American people.

http://www.salon.com/2015/09/12/hillary_clinton_is_about_to_make_a_huge_mistake_heres_what_she_needs_to_learn_from_bernie_sanders/

[Katashi_itto]

4. But But But..Sanders is Racist!!

[Catherina]

19. I can't wait for Hillary to pull one of these

Just substitute Muslim with White Supremacist or something equally as tacky.

[Katashi_itto]

29. Her supporters already do

[senz]

34. I think that was the last straw for me

with her. Stuff had been piling up, and that did it. It was like "there's nothing in her."

[florida08]

5. Dr. Cornel West

Will change that.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. There are a lot of black people who don't actually care for Dr West.

Because West has spent much of the last seven years being highly critical of the President, often in very strident language. To be honest, if I was looking to find influential black spokespeople to lead my outreach to AA, West would have been near the end of my list of possibilities. He's got the ideology, but I'm not sure he won't repel more black voters than he attracts to the campaign.

[florida08]

10. That may be

but what has this president done for AA? Has he talked to BLM? Did he get arrested in Ferguson with Cornel? Assumption is the mother of all mistakes. We better do our homework if we want to bring back democracy.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. Median income of black families has dropped 10% under Obama

vs. 5% for all families.

10% is A BIGGER NUMBER than 5%. So that's a good thing, yes?

Regards,

TWM

[Catherina]

25. And Black families know that. The ones whose incomes dropped

Black College grads are the highest group losing their homes right now. Stuff like that doesn't go unnoticed.

Just like White people. Those who are doing well, who don't live with the daily reality of losing your home, struggling with bills for basic items, rarely think about the little guy who is. Be patient, we'll get to you after we get to the Billionaires. Or pull yourself up by your bootstraps.



Black college grads face greater student loan burden than Whites which has a terrible effect on home ownership

Compare this to Obama being dissed by someone who's consistently advocated for the poor, put the hurt feelings in one hand and economic injustice in the other.

6 debates? We'll outsmart you yet DNC.

[sabrina 1]

12. And there are a lot of AAs who love Cornel West. West tells the truth

and AAs like everyone else, can admire someone and disagree with them about an issue or two at the same time.

I think you are reacting more to the narrow views of things that people get here on DU which does not speak for ANYONE but a few here, but outside of this small corner of the internet, it is a very different world.

West has said, and I believe him, that he will go after Bernie also if he does things that he feels are not beneficial to America.

The man tells the truth. And he will do the same re Bernie should he feel he isn't living up to the standards he set for himself. He has already stated he has a few issues with him and hopes that he will 'improve' because he 'loves him' otherwise.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

14. Sure. AA's are no more a monolith than anyone else.

But no, I'm not reacting to DU AA's. I'd heard complaints about West for years before I ever signed up on DU.

But letting West sign up as a front man is certainly pure Bernie. He didn't just 'go seek out a cool black friend', somebody who was beloved by every black person out there, like triangulating types might have done. He just lets people come to him, and speak how they please.

[Catherina]

20. I think the reverse, that he'll attract more than he repels

and that the majority of the ones he repels weren't going to vote for Sanders in the Primary anyway. I haven't seen a single Black supporter of Bernie's jump off the love train because of West. For an issues-oriented ideology trumps personality. The largest complaint I'm seeing, from people who otherwise like Bernie's message, is Palestine.



Actually, this guy budged. Now he really wants Bernie to win. His direct quote is "I hope we elect Bernie Sanders. I think he’s awesome" and that was after Cornel signed on.

Millennials especially don't care that Cornel dissed Obama. They've seen Cornel in Ferguson protesting and getting arrested. Obama's people, not so much. And I think that people who are having a hard time paying their mortgage, putting kids through school, aren't going to care either. What influential Black spokesperson would you suggest, especially for the critical millennial vote? I honestly can't think of a better one than Brother West for alignment on the issues but I admit, I'm very partial to Brother West.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

22. I hope you're more right than I am.

As to people I'd love to see swing over to Bernie? How about Deray McKesson?

[Catherina]

26. I'd love to see Deray swing over

That would be a heavy endorsement. So far he's not at all impressed with the competition. I think he's meeting with Bernie this week but I'm not holding my breath on an official endorsement, unless Bernie really wows him.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. If Bernie does wow him, I'd like to see something like 'ALEC' come out of it.

A planning committee to come up with legislation at the state level, as well as the federal, that can be pushed out to groups across the states, and pushed both from above and below to reform police interactions with the public and eliminate racially disparate police interactions.

[Catherina]

32. I thought of you today when I saw this

That's an ambitious plan but we need something like that. Now. I'm looking forward to what he and Bernie hammer out this month.

[senz]

35. If people listen to what Cornel West means, it should be obvious that his concern

is always for the well-being of African Americans. As I said on another thread, he's just so used to talking with academics that he doesn't hear how odd some of his language sounds. He uses a lot of stretchy metaphors -- Zimmerman, n-word-ized, etc., trying to put strong emphasis on his points. But if one listens to what he's trying to say, he's 100% with AAs. And I don't think he dislikes Obama; he's just disappointed. But his language probably does throw some people off.

Also, unless I heard wrong, Bernie's sympathies are with the Palestinian people. I could swear I heard him say so with considerable passion. Being Jewish doesn't mean you excuse everything Israel does. Bernie's too aware and compassionate for that.

[Catherina]

24. I think so too. Totally

That's what 99% of the vociferous *concern* from non-Sanders supporters is about.

If they really thought West was bad for Sanders, they'd be encouraging it. West is going to reach a traditionally non-voting block of Blacks who gave up on a rigged game, reach millennials + hardcore activists and sway some, not all, Leftists who normally want nothing to do with the Democratic Party.

That terrifies people who have everything riding on traditional voting blocs.

Yes sirree, Dr Cornel West will change that.

[reformist2]

6. In a way, black voters are more conservative - less likely to rush to judgement.

With Hillary, sure she's flawed, but she's been around the national stage for 20 years, and has proven herself - she's a known quantity. With Bernie, sure, he sounds great, but does he mean what he says, can he get things done - and can he be trusted?

I think this is the thinking going on.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. The Devil you know.

Yeah. Thankfully Bernie doesn't necessarily have to 'win' the black vote, just split it enough with Hillary, so he's hopefully still got enough time to get his message across to enough people. Even if his share of the black vote lags thanks to the effective campaign to proclaim that he and his supporters have troubles with AA that other candidates and their supporters don't, there's time to show that even if he's not going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread for the AA community, the reality is that he's not worse for them than the other candidates, and his supporters are not more filled with white bigots than the supporters of the other candidates as well.

[aspirant]

9. How long has Bernie been on the national stage?

How has HRC proven herself, did she march with Bernie and MLK?

Tell me how HRC can get things done and be trusted with all her evolutions?

[reformist2]

11. I was just trying to describe why a black voter might still be going with Hillary.

It's not so much that Hillary has proven herself at all - it's more like, as another poster mentioned, she's the devil we know. White voters are rushing to Bernie because he's saying all the right things, and they want to believe him. Clearly, black voters are a bit more skeptical and are asking, who is this guy, and why should I believe him?

[sabrina 1]

13. Well reading a lot of minority blogs, Hillary has a lot to worry about re Black voters.

Bernie is mostly unknown to AAs at this point. Just as he was to everyone else just two months ago. But watching the growing support for him among minorities as they find out more about him, seems he is on the same trajectory with minorities as he was just a short time ago pretty much everywhere else.

More and more groups are forming on Social Media for minorities who have discovered him. Same thing happened with White Voters, and he is still not really known to half the country but again, when people see his record, and I've seen people say this, 'this guy isn't just talking, he's been saying these things for many years'.

[Catherina]

23. I see where you're going there. That could be part of it

I don't know about us being less likely to rush to judgement (I never gave it thought) but Sanders definitely needs more time to get his message out. He was unknown a few weeks ago like you pointed out.

One thing about Black voters is we have a long memory and the stuff that went down in 2008 like Bill saying that 10 years ago, Obama would have been carrying their luggage, hasn't been forgotten so some things were proven in the negatives. It will be interesting to see what happens in the primaries.

[Ed Suspicious]

21. I think the following is fair to say. Talk about having to deal with condescension.

As for those claiming black people don’t want to vote for an old white guy, Carr has this response: “We were a little more sophisticated in voting for Obama for reasons other than him being a black man.”

[Catherina]

28. +1000 Obama being Black had nothing to do with my vote for him

It's true that I furiously jumped in the 2000 Primaries melee to defend him against vicious racist attacks but his skin color had nothing to do with my vote. I love that quote.

[marym625]

30. I love this article

Look what Salon did to it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128051374

[Catherina]

31. Ugh. Figures. The Salon-Clinton Network is really losing it

But that's ok. We got this far without them and we've got plenty of time, people, firm issues and energy

[marym625]

33. Amen to that!