Why Biden's rivals can't break his lock on black voters

[RandySF]

Voters like Stephens will determine the Feb. 29 contest in South Carolina, the first primary with a large population of black voters. He also represents the dilemma of the three Democrats trailing Biden nationally: After rolling out endorsements from black activists and elected officials, and releasing policies that explicitly address systemic inequality among African Americans, Sanders, Warren and Pete Buttigieg have little to show for it in South Carolina.

With voting kicking off in just a few weeks, the three find themselves in much the same spot they began the campaign: Needing Biden to perform so poorly in the first few states that black voters start to doubt whether he can win and migrate to another candidate.

The reluctance to consider candidates other than Biden was borne out in interviews with dozens of black voters in South Carolina over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, and is confirmed in polling. Time and again, African American voters said it isn’t that they don’t like Sanders or Warren. But they know what they’re getting with Biden, who has a relationship and familiarity with black voters, especially older black voters, that extend beyond his time as Barack Obama’s No. 2. And they’re wary that the two progressives can deliver the sweeping remake of the government they’re selling.

Polling by The Washington Post and Ipsos released a week ago found Biden at 48 percent with black voters nationally, compared with Sanders at 20 percent and Warren at 9 percent. Buttigieg received only 2 percent support among black voters, less than the 4 percent who back former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. A recent Fox News poll of South Carolina had Biden with 43 percent among black voters in the state, trailed by billionaire Tom Steyer at 16 percent. (They also finished one-two overall among Democratic primary voters.)





https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/joe-biden-black-voters-support-south-carolina-102365

[Cha]

1. Because it's not an inch deep.. it's

years of Strong Respect.

[msongs]

2. some candidates bring out their black surrogates only to bash biden. that's a bad look IMO nt

[Cha]

3. Oh wow.. I didn't know that. That

is really bad look.

[Thekaspervote]

4. The AA voter...smart and savvy not fooled by pie in sky promises

[Gothmog]

5. There are also a good number of these voters irked at the booing of John Lewis