Black Democratic voters in PA who admit they didn't vote in 2016 say they'll vote in 2020, for Biden

[highplainsdem]

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Some-Pa-Democrats-regret-not-voting-in-2016-14375503.php

PHILADELPHIA - The Rev. Alyn E. Waller, a senior pastor at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, believes African American voters in his city hold the key to the White House.

After backing a Democrat for president since 1988, Pennsylvania swung behind Donald Trump in 2016, helping to propel him to the presidency with a dramatic turnout of supportive white voters while the turnout of black Democratic voters in urban areas fell.

-snip-

He argues that Joe Biden, the former vice president, is the candidate most likely to get black voters to the ballot box.

"What we fundamentally need is someone who can energize our community to come out. I don't think any of the candidates will help us with a Barack Obama-style turnout, but I think Biden is like getting back into old comfortable shoes that will allow us to get our footing back."

-snip-

At a bus stop nearby, Shanta Tillar, a 36-year-old African American from Philadelphia, said that in 2016 "I really didn't think my vote would count" so she chose not to cast a ballot.

"Yes, I regret not voting last time," she said. That will change in 2020 "because America need a different president," she insisted. "I think Joe Biden would be a good president as he worked with Obama, but really anyone is better than who we have now."

Where Biden has an advantage at this early stage of the campaign is his ability to meld support from black voters with a measure of backing from more conservative white voters who will entertain a vote for him but are less open to other Democrats in the race.

David Kenderdine, a white 55-year-old retired police officer from Montgomery County, said he had been a "straight Republican" his entire life and voted for Trump. But if Biden wins the nomination, that could change.

"He's the Democrat who would appeal to the working man," Kenderdine said, speaking outside a local coffee shop in Doylestown, 4o miles north of Philadelphia. "I like him, I always have."

-snip-

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. Many of us have been saying this all along. It's a feeling that I'm glad to have backed up by....

actual data. I still haven't quite figured out why my fellow AA's didn't feel the urgency in 2016, but I'm ecstatic that they've been shaken from their complacency.

[JI7]

3. i think some of it was people assuming Clinton would win, especially states like pennsylvania which

have been going democratic in presidential elections regularly.

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. Donald J. Trump scared the s**t out of me. I would've crawled over broken glass to vote...

against him. I recognize that Russian trolling, James Comey, voter suppression, and pissed off campaign surrogates from a certain someone all played a role. I just assumed my community was hip to all the suppressive tactics being employed against us. But to hear someone say..."I really didn't think my vote would count" just breaks my heart and pisses me off a little bit.

[pnwmom]

15. Because of voter suppression, there were places where minority voters found their registrations

had been purged; or they found lines that could take hours to get through.

[Demsrule86]

37. And some chose not to vote but say they will vote for Biden...it is a

moderate areas that gave us the win in the house in 18 and will give us the win in 20 with a moderate candidate...Biden...or not if we run someone else.

[pnwmom]

41. And some say they'll vote for any Democrat. I was just talking yesterday

to an African American family member who prefers Booker but thinks it's more likely Biden will be the nominee, and he's fine with that.

[Demsrule86]

46. don't think Booker has a shot personally...but I just want to win...I think Biden

has the best chance... I like all of our candidates...

[Andy823]

48. And some said

they liked Harris, others said they will vote for the Democrat, so I guess it's still up in the air how many will vote for Biden, or someone else. I think that it's way too early to try and predict who is going to be the nominee. After the people hear from all the candidates they will pick the one they think will be the best to beat trump and become president.

I promise one thing, I will vote for Biden, if he is the nominee.

[Demsrule86]

33. Nope...they will vote for Biden...not the other candidates...it is clear what

they meant. So do we want to win.

[JI7]

36. your response has nothing to do with what i posted

[pnwmom]

42. You must have misunderstood this.

At a bus stop nearby, Shanta Tillar, a 36-year-old African American from Philadelphia, said that in 2016 "I really didn't think my vote would count" so she chose not to cast a ballot.

"Yes, I regret not voting last time," she said. That will change in 2020 "because America need a different president," she insisted. "I think Joe Biden would be a good president as he worked with Obama,

but really anyone is better than who we have now."

[Andy823]

47. Amazing

How anyone can think that one person who said "...but really anyone is better than who we have now." actually means all African American voters who didn't vote last time will "all" be voting for Biden!

Around 92,077,433 did not vote, that's 46 percent who did not vote, but sat the election out for one reason or another. That's a lot of votes, and a huge number of them WILL vote this time for the person that is able to convince them they are the right person for the job of President. Nobody has a lock on any of these voters.

In the long run the nominee will be the person that the voters want, period! Nobody knows who that person will be. Nobody has a lock on the nomination. We have some great candidates, male AND female who can win against trump. I will support whoever that nominee will be, "After" the primaries.

[jaysunb]

4. I think there were 2 main factors involved.

Although it's rarely discussed, there was some heavy Russian trolling of HRC in our community. I witnessed and argued with many otherwise smart people who got caught up in the false narratives that were being promoted. Some were actually encouraging others not to vote using the same troll tropes they didn't recognize as such.
Lots of our people - correctly - believed she would win anyway , but didn't understand or take into consideration the slave rule that is the electoral college.
I don't think it will happen this time especially in Pennsylvania or Michigan.

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. Now that we know our country is capable of electing a Donald Trump, we won't make assumptions...

or excuses for not voting. What with voter suppression in communities of color, we can't afford not to participate. That's the lesson I hope we've learned once and for all.

[jaysunb]

8. +1. n/t

[OnDoutside]

23. As a matter of interest, those people you argued with, have you

spoken with them since ?

[jaysunb]

44. Yes, of course, but in non confrontational conversation.

Trump has done the educating.

[OnDoutside]

45. True enough, though I wonder how many really understand the enormity of the mistake to the

point of actually being determined enough to go out to vote him out of office. If someone didn't actually vote in 2016, them realising their mistake is of no benefit unless they get out and vote for the Dem. And of course anyone who DID vote for Trump, them staying at home, would be a win too (every moreso by not voting, denying down ballot Republicans of a vote). What I'm really hoping for is a Republican beating that will decimate the GOP.

[Cha]

2. I'm sorry they didn't vote in 2016 But

Very Much Appreciate saying they will be voting for Biden in 2020!

At least they "regret" it!

Some Pa. Democrats regret not voting in 2016 - they say they'll be sure to cast a ballot in 2020

snippet from your link..

That sentiment reflects Biden's primary campaign strategy, more so than any Democrat seeking the nomination in 2020: He is keen to demonstrate that he's popular among black voters, while also appealing to the exurban and rural white voters who aided Trump.

Thank you for finding this Good News from PA, highplainsdem!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. I thought we hated, with the intensity of a thousand suns, anyone who didn't vote previously.

Their intent to vote blue this time around sounds kind of conditioned on getting the nominee they want.

If the people quoted in this article don’t get their way are they going to stay home again or, worse yet, vote for trump again?

[Cha]

11. Thanks for kicking the thread so

more can see this GREAT news from PA.

[SMC22307]

54. That we lost PA because many AAs chose not to vote...

is not "great" news, it's really shitty news. They better get over whatever reservations they had and vote for whichever Dem gets the nomination in 2020. I'm a lily white woman and will be running to the polls for any of our candidates - Kamala, Julian, Beto, Elizabeth, Joe, Bernie, Pete. This need to "identify" with a candidate is killing us. I'm not black, Hispanic, a rich kid, a Harvard professor, an old white dude, or a young gay dude. Just VOTE.

[betsuni]

14. You're thinking of Stein voters who still can't tell the difference between the two parties.

[Cha]

17. Excellent reply, betsuni!

[NYMinute]

22. +1000 nt

[progressoid]

31. Damn Stein Voters! But let's give a pass to the millions of AA Dems who didn't vote for Clinton.

[SMC22307]

56. Damn, WTF was going on with AAs in Michigan and Wisconsin?

That's a substantial drop in each state. PA wasn't as bad but with the election as close as it was...

[questionseverything]

57. that is an important graph

[Hassin Bin Sober]

40. That doesn't make any sense. You are saying people in the OP know the party but still voted trump?

And you are ok with that?

At least those other voters didn’t give votes to trump. You are aware voting trump caused twice the damage, yes?

[OnDoutside]

24. That's a good point. That said, if they say Biden, they're looking at

Biden as the most electable candidate. If it's not him and the Republicans are facing a "Socialist", they're likely to be as susceptible to bullshit from the right. Either way, they wouldn't be top of my Must Get list.

[SMC22307]

53. Funny how that works.

So much for pinning it all on Bernie bros. PA was fucking CRUCIAL. They better get over whatever "reservations" they have and vote for whichever Dem gets the nomination!

[LanternWaste]

61. We hate no one collectively.

And no one has argued otherwise.

The only implication of such is from you.

And were I a betting man, a week's pay says you won't see the irony of your accusation.

An irony with the intensity of a thousand suns...

[Scurrilous]

5. K&R

[Thekaspervote]

10. great news!

His poll numbers continue to be really good in SC as well, the bellwether for the AA voting block

[crazytown]

12. Biden has a lock on PA

No one would dispute that.

[orleans]

13. this drives me fucking crazy...

yes, Shanta Tillar, you were right -- your vote DIDN'T count...BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T VOTE!!!

[cwydro]

39. Yeah, nice to know that their "reservations" about Hillary caused them to help elect dotard.

Hopefully these voters will make better choices next time.

[SMC22307]

52. Agree. This pisses me off to no end.

They better get over it - and this bizarre need to "identify" - if Biden doesn't win the Dem nomination. Just get your asses to the polls and vote for the Democrat running against Fat Nixon!

[Perseus]

16. Just to find out who Laura Hughes is

She seems to like Biden herself very much as well. I do hope her article is not biased.

[link:https://twitter.com/laura_k_hughes?lang=en|

Can't read the full article because I am not a WAPO subscriber, it would be nice to find out what else she wrote.

[emmaverybo]

18. I think retired police officer sums it up for many others like himself who would go Joe.

David Kenderdine, a white 55-year-old retired police officer from Montgomery County, said he had been a "straight Republican" his entire life and voted for Trump. But if Biden wins the nomination, that could change.

He's the Democrat who would appeal to the working man," Kenderdine said, speaking outside a local coffee shop in Doylestown, 4o miles north of Philadelphia. "I like him, I always have."

[OnDoutside]

25. "could".... seriously ? After nearly 3 years of Trump, "could" is

the best he can do ?

[emmaverybo]

43. I said "could," not the retired policeman. I can't predict and don't want to overstate the case.

Fix the damage, Joe (busterbrown)
The world needs you.

[ChubbyStar]

49. The article about the retired policeman said could

You never said could, the article did. Now back to what the article said.....

[emmaverybo]

51. What's the point? You know what he meant and so does the poster who was shaving hairs on it.

A Biden candidacy in the GE likely will have an appeal with the widest swath of voters across the
political spectrum.

If purists have a problem with the possibility of tainting the Dem electorate with
people that are not sufficiently anti-Republican, anti-Trump, anti-whatever, because as potential first time swing voters, they don’t express their willingness to vote against Trump in absolute terms, so be it.

[loyalsister]

32. I wonder who is the working man?

Is it an archetype used to appeal specifically to men by lumping all working people in with the man as the face of that population? Or is his main concern specifically for men who feel like they are at some kind of disadvantage and woefully underrepresented among leadership? Or what?

[emmaverybo]

19. Good news. Al Sharpton gave a great speech, the best of the Dem convention, unfortunately not

shown on prime time, in which he said that despite the party not offering anything for the black electorate, they kept riding that donkey, as he put it. This was in 2004.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/27/politics/campaign/the-rev-al-sharptons-remarks-to-the-democratic-national.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

I hope the 2020 platform will be taking into consideration AA needs, wants, urgencies whoever is the candidate. Certainly Trump proudly carrying the racist banner for his base and Republicans (and Putin) can motivate, but Biden it seems can too.

I think he will keep the faith with AA supporters. That’s the important thing.

Whoever the candidate. This time keep the faith.

[oasis]

20. K and R

[NYMinute]

21. K&R nt

[Princetonian]

26. Everyone likes Joe around here. We'll do our part to deliver PA to Joe.

Last edited Sun Aug 25, 2019, 10:49 PM - Edit history (2)

Joe leads with both demographics - white working class and AA voters - nationally.

Yet he has faced a series of potential setbacks in maintaining his support among black voters over the last few months: Rivals have attacked his opposition to federally mandated busing in his home state of Delaware in the 1970s and also comments in which he championed his work with well-known segregationist senators.

Earlier this month, he told a group of mostly minority voters in Iowa that "poor kids" are just as bright as "white kids" before quickly correcting himself. But the controversy doesn't appear to have trickled down to black voters in Philadelphia....Tasha Ann, a 46 year-old dental assistant in Philadelphia..."You can't judge him on that," she added. "He proved himself time and time again with Obama. We all have a past. I would say Biden is more likely to get African Americans out voting."

Waller was also unconcerned. "We have had 30 years to see his heart," he said. "Do I believe that Joe Biden in his heart is a racist, or do I believe that he does not have the African American community in his heart? I don't believe he's a racist and I don't believe he wouldn't give the best that he could for our community."

More than a dozen African Americans who said they usually vote Democratic - but didn't vote at all in 2016 - blamed unease with Clinton's candidacy. They also expressed support for Biden, frequently citing his past as Obama's vice president as a major positive, and occasionally others. Carl Garner, a 53-year-old IT specialist, said "... right now I think we just want to beat Trump, to be honest with you."

Biden, he said, is best suited to win: "I still feel that the middle of the country trusts Joe Biden more than the other candidates. Even though I'm not part of that middle, I don't think we can win without them."

Jason Saffore, 43, an African American Democrat working in Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, said he couldn't bring himself to vote for Clinton in 2016 and so didn't vote at all. Next year, he said, will be different... "I'm actually for Joe Biden at this point," he added... Where Biden has an advantage at this early stage of the campaign is his ability to meld support from black voters with a measure of backing from more conservative white voters who will entertain a vote for him but are less open to other Democrats in the race.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Some-Pa-Democrats-regret-not-voting-in-2016-14375503.php

[empedocles]

28. Biden running versus trump slow walker - campaign commercial

[Princetonian]

30. That's a great idea, empedocles.

Last edited Sun Aug 25, 2019, 08:57 PM - Edit history (1)

[empedocles]

27. Survival instincts seem to be kicking in more and more

[cwydro]

29. Wonder how they feel about helping to elect the dotard.

There’s another thread running right now with a pic of a bunch of PA (apparently illiterate) rednecks.

Everyone is having a fine time laughing at them, but guess what...they vote.

[Demsrule86]

35. They do vote...and I saw the same thing on a Lordstown Ohio thread

yesterday...sneering at folks who have lost everything...disgusting behavior. And ironically...I worked for more than ten years with the union...they were instrumental in getting Obama elected and now we have foreclosures and suicides... these are the voters we need to take back the presidency. The heartlessness of some is sad.

[Demsrule86]

34. I just posted a thread showing the electoral college map...and how important

the blue wall states are...three states-MI,WI and PA...we win them, and we win the EC...we lose them and we lose the EC and the presidency. Our situation is dire. It really is.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287253481

[emmaverybo]

55. Great thread. Hard to look at the reality of "our situation," but there it is. NT

[Autumn]

38. Stein voters? nt

[Princetonian]

50. Steyer naysayers?

[Autumn]

60. There you are. Steyer didn't run in 2016, he just has a history of helping finance Democrats.

Last edited Mon Aug 26, 2019, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

No much on discussion, unless it's oneliners about Steyer I notice.

[Princetonian]

63. The Democratic nominee will welcome Steyer's support.

[Autumn]

64. As they always have.

[nitpicker]

58. The proof of the pudding

Will, IMO, be Super Tuesday.

IF my precinct gets turnout from the garden apartments, that may be an indicator for the following November.

If it doesn't, that might signal problems to come.

[DrFunkenstein]

59. "but really anyone is better than who we have now."

Biden's support generally comes from name recognition, association with Obama, and the implicit belief that a white man is more palatable to people you don't know.

But how many people who are not declared for him going to be inspired by his campaign? I just don't see his ability to close the deal, especially with Obama unwilling to endorse Biden's third presidential campaign.

There are still a number of excellent candidates in the race, and we are not seeing a repeat of the coronation in 2016. Trump is no longer an unknown anti-establishment candidate, and he's no longer up against someone with viewed so unfavorably. Plus, his promises to blue collar communities have pretty much been broken one by one, so he can't even count on that.

[Princetonian]

62. Where do I start?

"Biden's support generally comes from name recognition, association with Obama, and the implicit belief that a white man is more palatable to people you don't know."

Biden's support is rock solid because we know him and trust him. That "white man" strawman is must be a new meme. Do you believe that of Bernie supporters?

Well over a hundred volunteers showed up for twelve hours prior, during, and after his kickoff rally in Philly back in April. You see scenes from that rally in his most recent commercial.Thousands eventually showed up and patiently waited on long security lines. We cheered. We clapped. We swayed and hummed along to the singing from the gospel group. We stood under the hot sun waiting for Joe and Jill to step up on the raised dais. While we did not jump up and down in starry-eyed awe and howl like cats on a hot tin roof during the speech, there was a palpable sense of affectionate enthusiasm and a shared resolve that Joe was our man. A familiar and familial sense of pride stirred in me that I haven't felt since President Obama left office.

"But how many people who are not declared for him going to be inspired by his campaign? I just don't see his ability to close the deal, especially with Obama unwilling to endorse Biden's third presidential campaign. There are still a number of excellent candidates in the race, and we are not seeing a repeat of the coronation in 2016. Trump is no longer an unknown anti-establishment candidate, and he's no longer up against someone with viewed so unfavorably. Plus, his promises to blue collar communities have pretty much been broken one by one, so he can't even count on that.

Most folks who support Joe are busy living paycheck to paycheck, raising their families and worrying about how to pay their bills. Folks who quietly go about their daily business will vote for on Election Day, most of them without going to a single rally or listening to a single podcast. They will line up for hours hoping not to be disenfranchised in order to vote for the man that President Obama called "the best Vice President America has ever had."

Regarding being endorsed: by tradition, no President endorses a candidate during a multi-candidate primary season, though there is this...

"Mr. Obama has said he will not make an endorsement in the primary, and has offered every candidate his counsel. But he has taken an active interest in the inner workings of his friend’s campaign, to an extent beyond anything offered to other candidates..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/us/politics/biden-obama-history.html

Finally, Vice President Joe Biden will have The Obama Coalition solidly behind him in a general election. There are these demographic subsets of voters to also consider: Republicans who would never contemplate pulling the lever for Warren or Sanders but feel comfortable voting for Joe; moderate Democrats who are sceptical of M4A and want to keep their ObamaCare will vote for Joe; right-leaning independents who are disappointed or dislike in Trump but do not trust pie-in-the-sky plans will choose Joe. We will see soon enough.