Obama thrills blacks who see shot at history
Obama thrills blacks who see shot at history
WASHINGTON — The first black presidential candidate with a real shot at the White House is generating excitement and early support among blacks who see a chance to help make history.Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is all but certain to compete for the Democratic nomination and win a large share of black votes. That creates challenges for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other hopefuls.
Obama is by no means the first black candidate for president. Other contenders have included Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Roger Wilkins, a race and politics expert at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., calls him the first "truly serious" prospect. "This guy is not a civil rights leader who comes to politics or a preacher who comes to politics," Wilkins says. "He is a bona fide lawyer-politician. I've heard black people say 'I'm going to help this guy' — you don't want to be standing around when the first guy who has a real chance to be president is running."
Bill Clinton bonded so tightly with black voters that author Toni Morrison once called him "the first black president." That legacy and her own work have made Hillary Clinton popular among blacks. Clinton was favored by 39% of black Democrats and independents in combined USA TODAY/Gallup Polls conducted in November, December and this month; 31% chose Obama. The margin of error was +/—8 percentage points.
Obama has room to improve; one-third of all those polled in December, regardless of race or party, said they had never heard of him, and 14% said they had no opinion. Comparable ratings for Clinton in November were 53% favorable, 42% unfavorable and 5% no opinion.
Obama partisans and some other observers say they expect him to become more popular among blacks and other voters when his official campaign gets rolling. He plans a formal announcement Feb. 10.
"I would expect him in most places to get the majority of the black votes" in primaries, says David Bositis, an expert on black voting behavior at the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies.
Minyon Moore, a longtime Clinton friend who was political director in the Clinton White House, says it is way too early to talk about "a wholesale giveaway" of black votes to one candidate or another. She says black voters have grown sophisticated as a result of past campaigns by black hopefuls.
"We can make wise choices of who will work for our best interests regardless of color," she said. "It's not like African-Americans are breaking ground anymore."
Some, such as Wilkins and Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., argue that Obama is breaking ground in his broad-based appeal across racial and demographic lines. Other pluses: his level of political talent and his breadth of experience, from community organizing to Harvard Law Review to representing poor black constituents in the Illinois Senate and a diverse state in the U.S. Senate. They also cite his potential as a role model for black families.
"If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, it will be possible to say to your children, this is what is attainable. You can be anything you want to in this country," Davis says.
Black voters don't figure largely in the nomination race until early February 2008. The competition moves at that point to South Carolina and Alabama, two states in which nearly half of Democratic primary voters are black.
"There is no question in my mind that Sen. Obama will get the lion's share of that vote," says Davis, a Harvard Law School classmate already pledged to Obama.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Obama's presence in his state will make it "very difficult" for Clinton and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who was born in South Carolina and won its primary in 2004. But he said the black vote is not monolithic and ultimately black people will vote based on candidates' records and proposals.
Clinton is well positioned in that respect, both from her own work and her husband's, analysts say.
Beyond Bill Clinton's emotional ties to blacks, "he put into place policies that worked very favorably for African-Americans," Bositis says. One example: economic polices that helped black household income rise $5,000 in Clinton's second term as president.
Hillary Clinton has dealt with issues "of great importance to black people, such as creating a world in which poor children can flourish," Wilkins says. Still, he adds, "it's a chunk of support that they're going to have to fight like hell to keep. Hillary is not Bill. This election is not about putting Bill Clinton back in the Oval Office."
Posted 1/17/2007 11:02 PM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-17-blacks-dems_x.htm?csp=34
WASHINGTON — The first black presidential candidate with a real shot at the White House is generating excitement and early support among blacks who see a chance to help make history.Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is all but certain to compete for the Democratic nomination and win a large share of black votes. That creates challenges for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other hopefuls.
Obama is by no means the first black candidate for president. Other contenders have included Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Roger Wilkins, a race and politics expert at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., calls him the first "truly serious" prospect. "This guy is not a civil rights leader who comes to politics or a preacher who comes to politics," Wilkins says. "He is a bona fide lawyer-politician. I've heard black people say 'I'm going to help this guy' — you don't want to be standing around when the first guy who has a real chance to be president is running."
Bill Clinton bonded so tightly with black voters that author Toni Morrison once called him "the first black president." That legacy and her own work have made Hillary Clinton popular among blacks. Clinton was favored by 39% of black Democrats and independents in combined USA TODAY/Gallup Polls conducted in November, December and this month; 31% chose Obama. The margin of error was +/—8 percentage points.
Obama has room to improve; one-third of all those polled in December, regardless of race or party, said they had never heard of him, and 14% said they had no opinion. Comparable ratings for Clinton in November were 53% favorable, 42% unfavorable and 5% no opinion.
Obama partisans and some other observers say they expect him to become more popular among blacks and other voters when his official campaign gets rolling. He plans a formal announcement Feb. 10.
"I would expect him in most places to get the majority of the black votes" in primaries, says David Bositis, an expert on black voting behavior at the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies.
Minyon Moore, a longtime Clinton friend who was political director in the Clinton White House, says it is way too early to talk about "a wholesale giveaway" of black votes to one candidate or another. She says black voters have grown sophisticated as a result of past campaigns by black hopefuls.
"We can make wise choices of who will work for our best interests regardless of color," she said. "It's not like African-Americans are breaking ground anymore."
Some, such as Wilkins and Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., argue that Obama is breaking ground in his broad-based appeal across racial and demographic lines. Other pluses: his level of political talent and his breadth of experience, from community organizing to Harvard Law Review to representing poor black constituents in the Illinois Senate and a diverse state in the U.S. Senate. They also cite his potential as a role model for black families.
"If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, it will be possible to say to your children, this is what is attainable. You can be anything you want to in this country," Davis says.
Black voters don't figure largely in the nomination race until early February 2008. The competition moves at that point to South Carolina and Alabama, two states in which nearly half of Democratic primary voters are black.
"There is no question in my mind that Sen. Obama will get the lion's share of that vote," says Davis, a Harvard Law School classmate already pledged to Obama.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Obama's presence in his state will make it "very difficult" for Clinton and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who was born in South Carolina and won its primary in 2004. But he said the black vote is not monolithic and ultimately black people will vote based on candidates' records and proposals.
Clinton is well positioned in that respect, both from her own work and her husband's, analysts say.
Beyond Bill Clinton's emotional ties to blacks, "he put into place policies that worked very favorably for African-Americans," Bositis says. One example: economic polices that helped black household income rise $5,000 in Clinton's second term as president.
Hillary Clinton has dealt with issues "of great importance to black people, such as creating a world in which poor children can flourish," Wilkins says. Still, he adds, "it's a chunk of support that they're going to have to fight like hell to keep. Hillary is not Bill. This election is not about putting Bill Clinton back in the Oval Office."
Posted 1/17/2007 11:02 PM ET http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-17-blacks-dems_x.htm?csp=34
posted by presgore19 at 8:28 PM
<< Home