PPP poll: among S.C. African American voters, 59% Clinton, 3% Sanders

[pnwmom]

This is important because in South Carolina, 28% of all voters are black. Iowa and New Hampshire, by contrast, are among the states with the fewest African American voters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/10/hillary-clinton-trails-in-a-new-iowa-poll-so-why-is-she-holding-steady-nationally/

Iowa and New Hampshire are two of the whiter states in the country. In the Republican field, that doesn't differentiate them from the national picture as much as it does in the Democratic field. Nationally, there are a lot of non-white Democrats. In Iowa and New Hampshire, there aren't.

There has been a dearth of polling on the Democratic primary in the first not-overwhelmingly white state to vote next year, South Carolina. The most recent survey in the state is from the Democratically-leaning automated pollster Public Policy Polling. In South Carolina, it found earlier this month that Clinton leads with 54 percent of the vote. In second place? Biden, not Sanders, with 24 percent -- and then Sanders, in third, with 9 percent.

South Carolina is a less liberal state than others, of course, so this also points back to the graph at the top of this article. But the state is 28 percent black -- and 59 percent of blacks in South Carolina support Clinton. Only 3 percent back Sanders. Compare that to 48 percent of whites who support Clinton and 17 percent backing Sanders. (Joe Biden does much better with black voters as well, which is one of the reasons that we've generally assumed that much of his base would shift to Clinton if he doesn't run.)

This is why, as the Times reported this month, Clinton sees the South as a stronghold worth defending. If current trends hold -- and current trends have made a habit of not holding, of late -- Clinton could lose Iowa and New Hampshire but then regain support in large Democratic states and states with more diverse populations. The national picture is still pretty good, despite this new poll in Iowa.

[HooptieWagon]

1. He'll pick up more minority voters...

When his campaign can shift more resources there and they get to know him. Right now the focus is on the first two states. I expect by the SC Primary Sanders will be polling similar minority #s to Clinton.

[pnwmom]

2. Among Democratic voters, African Americans and Hispanics

are among those most likely to hold strong religious beliefs.

People who dismiss that as unimportant might not understand a significant part of the continuing appeal of Clinton and Biden among African American voters. Both of them are comfortable talking about faith.

It will be interesting to see how a man who has stated he has no religious faith will connect with these voters. One thing he won't do is insult them, as too many of his supporters here do.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Obama campaigned there with virulent hate preachers infamous for calling gay people vampires

and child killers, he very clearly said that he had to 'reach out' to the mindset there by doing so. A man who had, on the 700 Club, called for war against gay people because he said we were trying to kill Christian children. Host of official Obama events, who spoke against gay people live on stage in SC.

So about insulting people, SC and the Party center have very little standing to complain. Vampires. Child killers.

SC is where the Clinton and Obama 08 campaigns had their lowest moments.

I am confident that LGBT people will not be denigrated at a Sanders event to grab some bigot votes. For that I am very grateful. That last primary, Obama broke my heart with those events. This Party broke my heart by allowing those events.

Let me know when some minority group is called vampire child killers by an official Sanders surrogate, ok?

[kenfrequed]

28. True

South Carolina is conservative as hell. Hopefully this time it will be different. Personally I think Bernie will stick to his guns there. Whether he wins or loses I think he will do what is right. Or at least I hope he will.

[Garrett78]

34. I wish all primaries took place the same day.

I wish the primaries all took place in the same day like the general election. A lot of states, including reliably blue states, have primaries so late in the game that they're meaningless. Meanwhile, states that aren't going to go to the Democrat in the general election get to have a lot of say in who the nominee is.

Since faith is believing in that for which there is zero evidence, it's no wonder so many seem to think Clinton is progressive. Evidence doesn't matter. Perception and money is what matters.

[arcane1]

76. Followed by victory celebrations that included Rick Warren n/t

[artislife]

42. But the Latino voter is starting to be reached

from the multiple Bernie groups canvasing in Spanish and to the sensibilities of the Latino population.

Not that it is going to be easy, but rest assured we hard already hard at work using his words to convert.

We are far from being there but this is our challenge.

[mhatrw]

47. Yeah, St. Hillary lives to spread the Gospel!

She's so religious, she even lets people kiss her ring!

[Recursion]

84. African Americans are the most conservative major bloc of the party

Honestly I think some of the hand wringing about race ignores the simplest explanation: the most conservative voters in the party do not prefer the most liberal candidate.

[pnwmom]

85. And many of the people here =

will say that's because they are swallowing the faux propaganda.

[WDIM]

3. Thats sad considering how many Black people her husband sent to jail.

Clinton has done nothing to address the institutional racism found in our laws and in our law enforcement agencies.

[NorthCarolina]

6. Many have no idea of that fact though, and they certainly won't hear it

from the media.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Are you talking about the 1994 crime bill that Bill Clinton signed? nt

[Kelvin Mace]

26. Well, there is that

and she has a very "law and order" record.

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/30/8522259/hillary-record-criminal-justice

[WDIM]

29. Overall the prison population of Blacks increased dramatically

In the 90s. It has continued even to this day. Our laws and law enforcement are racist and Bill Clinton did nothing and Hillary is proposing nothing to change that. Disproportionately african americans are arrested pulled over harrassed and profiled by police.

[oasis]

39. 22 million jobs were created during Clinton's presidency.

That's what most folks remember.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

68. And African American Unemployment was at its lowest level in a generation ...

And African American Unemployment was at its lowest level in a generation while African American home ownership was at its highest level in history.

The poverty level was also at its lowest level in a generation.

It's also telling that HRC's college roommate was Janet Hill and the two women closest to her beside Chelsea is an African American woman and a Muslim woman.

Some bray about diversity...Some live it...

[oasis]

70. "AA unemployment at its lowest level in a generation."

That's worth repeating.

[upaloopa]

33. Just in case some people might not know it

Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton and 2016 is not 1994.
Both Hillary and Bill said that the crime bill was a mistake.
I would not venture to speak for the AA community since I don't walk in their shoes. I would rather they speak for themselves. That way we could learn from them before we try and second guess them.

[Capn Sunshine]

59. This is a surprise to many here

who often conflate 1994 with 2015, and Clinton the President with Clinton the Senator and Secretary of State.

[CreekDog]

77. I think you have it backwards

If it weren't for Hispanic and Black voters, you would not have had any Democratic presidents going back to Jimmy Carter.

Us white folks, as a group do not have a thing to *teach* black folks about voting for progressives. They've got it all over us and in fact, are much more reliable about doing so even when the chips are down.

[lovemydog]

78. +1

[Live and Learn]

82. Not to mention his Welfare Reform and NAFTA policies that have

increased poverty. Oh and private prisons. What a great legacy.

[SouthernProgressive]

4. Sorry if this sounds cold.

But Hillary better make social justice a top priority when she is elected. In all honesty, much of this feels like using POC. Flat out using them. Not one of our candidates has done enough in their past history at government to garner support of the AA community. Hillary has gone further than others with her outreach but it simply isn't enough. If we are going to tout numbers like this, which are impressive, we better be willing to force her to move on this issue when she is President. POC have to stop being used during elections by our side and then thrown breadcrumbs after the election. It's time to up the action. With some of Hillarys moves in State with respect to LGBT, I do think she is ready for real action.

[pnwmom]

5. She should. And what you are saying echoes what BLM is saying.

They don't want to be connected with one party or another because then the party could take them for granted.

[NorthCarolina]

7. The fact is that Democrats have always

taken the black community for granted; Clintons included.

[pnwmom]

8. Did John Kennedy? Lyndon Johnson? Ted Kennedy? Jimmy Carter? I don't think so. n/t

[NorthCarolina]

11. None of them were

the whole of the party though, just individuals operating within the party.

[artislife]

43. And Latinos. nt

[KittyWampus]

63. Bill Clinton's Arkansas staff had a significant number of A.A.s on his staff

even though the Arkansas population is white by a large percentage.

and Hillary's campaign this time around has been inclusive from day one.

Bernie's?

Not so much. He had to retool his campaign.

[Fawke Em]

83. No he didn't.

He had to grow - not retool.

And, as his campaign grew, his staff grew and as his staff grew the diversity grew.

[SouthernProgressive]

10. I think Hillary is ready for it.

I really do. She has absolutely nothing to lose.

[rainbow fish]

38. You can count on that....

she won't do a damn thing for AA or PoC communities.

[Capn Sunshine]

60. That's really demeaning, using an acronym

Just my 2c. To me , acronyms reduce the subject to a caricature. Like RWNJ. But beyond that, making the classic leap that African American voters, in fact voters in general , are defined more by their skin tone than their beliefs, which are hardly monolithic in nature.

[NorthCarolina]

64. You should probably raise that issue on Twitter using the #BLM hashtag. eom

[romanic]

73. +1

I've really come to dislike acronyms, I know it makes online conversations easier to follow but I'd rather be called biracial or ethnic vs "POC" of "MOC" instead.

[mmonk]

12. It means the propaganda is working.

It will level out when debates start. Debates will start, won't they? I don't know anymore. We're in a corporate state now. They dictate much of what is available and/or known.

[pnwmom]

13. Are you saying African Americans are more susceptible to propaganda

than white voters?

[mmonk]

14. I do not believe such determination could be rendered from my post.

[pnwmom]

15. Then why is her support higher among African American voters?

And why did you mention propaganda, if you didn't think that was the reason?

[mmonk]

17. I do not know why she has more AA support. I see nothing there outstanding

above the other candidates. However, if there are several national reports saying Bernie cannot connect with minority voters or that he's more concerned with economics than minority issues, how does does that play psychologically in the public? It's on you now.

[pnwmom]

18. I have a theory about that.

She and Biden have more appeal to Christian voters, and African Americans are among the Democrats who are most likely to have strong religious faith, according to the Gallup poll.

Bernie has acknowledged that he doesn't have a faith, so he can't connect on that basis with voters that do. Not that he can't connect at all, but he can't reach them through religious words and imagery.

OTOH, I saw a video of Hillary in the Charleston church after the shootings, and listening to her was like listening to one of my high school nuns (all liberal, by the way). She was very comfortable speaking in that setting. More comfortable than I've often seen her in other settings.

Biden is the same way. Ted Kennedy was, too. And Jimmy Carter, of course.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. So it boils down to Christians who won't vote for a non Christian.

A fairy strong accusation. That's not a positive thing you know.

[mmonk]

21. It exists. And not necessarily Christians alone.

[JI7]

36. the poster is putting her own views onto the black community

As i explained below . Clintons popularity among them is for same reasons as it is with gays hispanics and others.

Anthony weiner was very popular among the black community also.

[mmonk]

20. I think your idea has merit.

[LondonReign2]

23. That is an interesting theory, one that I hadn't considered before

Because it certainly has baffled me why, after the horrible racist dog whistles she employed last campaign against Obama, why her support amongst blacks would remain so strong.

I guess we'll see how much the numbers move once Sanders makes his swing through SC with West. IIRC, the last poll showed that 48% of African-Americans in SC hadn't yet even formed an opinion of Sanders.

[pnwmom]

24. I saw the video in the AA forum. It was eye-opening, for me at least.

[artislife]

46. That is when I lost all my love for Bill

She was someone I felt sorry for. I was young when she was First Lady and I remember the hard time they gave her about wearing hair bands and not having a coiffure. I thought how hard it was for me to master blow drying my hair into a presentable hairstyle and really understood her when she said she never got the hang of it.

I wasn't old enough to remember if they bashed other First Ladies for their style...so she was a victim in my eyes of the "mean girl" mentality.

But I wasn't enamored with her like I loved Bill.

That is over, of course.

[JI7]

30. that has very little to do with it. she is popular among black people

For same reason she is popular among hispanics, gays and other minority groups.

They have built up relationships in the communities across the country and over a long period of time.

Anthony weiner was very popular among black people also.

[pnwmom]

31. But part of that relationship is being able to share a common language, I would think. n/t

[JI7]

35. anthony weiner and rahm emanuel don't share the common language

And they are popular among the black community

[pnwmom]

56. Are they atheists or agnostics? n/t

[JI7]

57. they are the same thing Sanders is

[totodeinhere]

32. We have no place for bigotry against non Christians in our party.

And it would be especially sad to see it coming from a group that has itself faced so much bigotry.

[upaloopa]

44. there is this

.... but I think many literary critics and scholars of African-American studies would agree that if any author alive today has the authority to speak about the black experience in America, it's Toni Morrison. (Read The Bluest Eye, Beloved, or Song of Solomon to see why.)

Here's what she said in a 1998 article in The New Yorker:


African-American men seemed to understand it right away. Years ago, in the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. And when virtually all the African-American Clinton appointees began, one by one, to disappear, when the President’s body, his privacy, his unpoliced sexuality became the focus of the persecution, when he was metaphorically seized and body-searched, who could gainsay these black men who knew whereof they spoke? The message was clear: “No matter how smart you are, how hard you work, how much coin you earn for us, we will put you in your place or put you out of the place you have somehow, albeit with our permission, achieved. You will be fired from your job, sent away in disgrace, and—who knows?—maybe sentenced and jailed to boot. In short, unless you do as we say (i.e., assimilate at once), your expletives belong to us.”

In part, "the first black president" reflects the fact that Bill Clinton, although white-skinned, has lived a life similar to that of many black men in America. But it's also largely a name that reflects the fact that he, as a successful white man, is nevertheless facing an environment similar to that faced by successful black men, where there is a systemic environmental tendency to demean their accomplishments and latch onto any of their failures, no matter how small. In the case of black men who rise out of poverty or troubled households, it's the system of employers or the business community or law enforcement, who all always treated black men as somehow being more worthy of suspicion or scrutiny; in the case of Clinton it's the system of Congress and (especially) the press, who both relentlessly dogged him for his perceived personal failings in a way no prior president had been dogged.

In short, it's a racial analogy to a now-famous comment made by Hillary Clinton earlier that year on The Today Show:

The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for President.


http://www.quora.com/Why-did-Americans-use-to-call-Bill-Clinton-The-First-Black-President

[artislife]

50. Toni Morrison said it

and then like what they do with almost every minority, they took it to mean that the whole minority population agreed.


Personally, if I was AA, I would be appalled at this meme.

I think she thougth she would never see a Black president in her lifetime. I sure didn't right up to 4 months before the election.

I would love to know how much of this she still agrees with, now, with all that all has transpired from the Clinton years to the Obama years and the whole collapse of the economy and who got ground down at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Being raised by a single mother is not enough to say they get the minority experience.

For many reasons.

[upaloopa]

52. People were questioning the AA support so I went

looking and found that. I don't intend to speak for you or any AA person. I try to learn by listening. I am interested in what a lot of people have to say.

[Lisa D]

81. That was an interesting read.

I love Toni Morrison. Thank you

[mhatrw]

48. SC has a large number of low information voters.

It has little or nothing to do with race.

It's just that the white low information voters generally get their low information from Faux News.

[pnwmom]

49. Where do the low information black voters get their news?

And how do you know SC has a large number of low information black voters?

[mhatrw]

66. 1) Television is where most low info voters get their low info

2) You got me there. I don't know that for sure. I was just making a quip about SC's red(state)necks. However, the state is currently 47th in system school quality rating.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. I have voted for Jews, Christians, Muslims, and prolly a few agnostics and atheists.

But I suspect there is not an unsubstantial group of people who are uncomfortable with someone who professes no faith at all.

[pnwmom]

27. Many DUers would have trouble believing that

but I think you're onto something.

[Fumesucker]

80. A not unsubstantial group of bigots

Don't try to sugar coat it, call it what it is.

On the other hand there are a probably somewhat less but still substantial group of people who would leap at the chance to vote for someone who doesn't constantly violate the spirit of Matthew 6:5 and I don't think all of them are non-theists. There are actually a few Christians out there who take the Gospels seriously, Jimmy Carter would be the most obvious example and I can remember the outrage about his "lust in my heart" comment.

Quite a few Christians make me very uncomfortable because of their faith, on the other hand I've known Christians who I consider among the best people I have ever met.

[totodeinhere]

25. I hope that this doesn't boil down to a whites vs blacks primary season

that divides the party along racial lines. That would not be good for the party or the country.

[mmonk]

41. Me either. Bernie has a lot to offer. But I'm not optimistic.

In NC, many AA Churches were for the NC Constitutional amendment against gay marriages. I was deeply disappointed. Especially since the Rev. Barber of the NC NAACP was for gay marriage. Religious beliefs are always an ignored, but effective power in American politics that politicians will exploit.

[artislife]

51. Being a Latina and voting for Bernie

I am doing my part to cross barriers!


Hee.

[totodeinhere]

67. Great and God bless you. We need many more of you.

n/t

[HereSince1628]

37. Reminds me of the Iowa polling back in April

It took 3 months to change that.

I think I'll give Sanders at least a few weeks to work on that before I conclude he can't change that.

Not only has Sanders not really worked SC, not only has he been up against Clinton surrogates pushing the idea that he doesn't support civil rights. But there is also a good chance that establishing the role of front runner in a couple states will change the environment and help Sanders rise faster in SC than he did in Iowa.

[BOSNYCDC]

40. Let's see what happens after his SC swing this weekend with Cornel West

I'm guessing Bernie is still a virtual unknown to the Black community in much of the South, as he is among my Black and White brothers and sisters up here in DC/NYC given the Trump - Clinton media focus.

Nowhere to go but up.

[pnwmom]

55. Yes, that will be interesting. n/t

[mhatrw]

45. Lots of room for growth for somebody with Jesse Jackson's platform.

[newblewtoo]

53. I found this to be an equally interesting article

for which I will post a link only:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/09/about-that-poll-showing-donald-trump-doing-well-with-black-voters/

Monolithic voting groups may become a thing of the past in this election.

[pnwmom]

54. That is also a reminder of how important sample size is. You can't project much

based on a sample size of only 100 voters.

[mmonk]

58. Agreed.

[Capn Sunshine]

61. Like I said before, the Sanders Campaign has to hit the ground running

Ramp that shit up like NOW. There's a reason Hillary is so far ahead in the polls. They have had a presence in S Carolina since 2014

[TeddyR]

62. I wonder how many folks on DU

Are like me and will be glad when primary season is over? I'm going to support whomever the Democrats put up as their candidate for president, and find the constant effort of Clinton and Sanders supporters to belittle the other candidate (and the candidate's supporters) to be pretty tiring at this point. Seems to me that both Clinton and Sanders have positives and flaws but both would be good nominees, though I'm a bit concerned that Democrats are simply in a bad position this coming election.

[DCBob]

65. Looks like Bernie dropped a notch or two with AA voters.

There is no way he can win without the crucial voting block.

[riversedge]

69. Thanks for post.

[Doctor_J]

71. Propaganda is very effective

[pnwmom]

72. Are you saying it's especially effective among African Americans?

If not, how do you account for the disparity?

[romanic]

74. That doesn't mean there aren't black people

that support Sanders nor does it mean that he can't get more black people to vote his way.

[pnwmom]

75. Of course not. In S.C. there appear to be about 3% of Democrats who support him.

But he doesn't have much of an organization there yet. He shouldn't waste any more time getting one going.

[Cha]

79. "PPP poll: among S.C. African American voters, 59% Clinton, 3% Sanders".. As it should be..

Mahalo pnwmom!