'A heavy lift': Religious black voters weigh Buttigieg's bid

[TexasTowelie]

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Joe Darby, a South Carolina pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pondered a sensitive question that he knew was on the mind of his congregation. Would black voters be able to reconcile their conservative religious doctrine with voting for a gay candidate for president?

"It's a heavy lift in the black church," says Darby, who is also a Charleston-area NAACP leader. "Just as nobody who is racist likes to say, 'I'm a racist,' nobody who is homophobic in the black community likes to say, 'I'm homophobic.'"

In South Carolina, the first state with a predominantly African American electorate, part of the dialogue focuses on a conflict between a cultural openness for same-sex marriage and the deeply held religious convictions that could impede support for the 2020 race's only gay candidate — Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

The historically diverse field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is overflowing with options. But it is also forcing conversations about the roles — if any — that gender, race and, for the first time, sexuality should play in voters' decisions.

Read more: https://www.trentonian.com/news/national/a-heavy-lift-religious-black-voters-weigh-buttigieg-s-bid/article_c090dd71-b8c1-53c4-82af-b1c3f127c780.html

[LuvNewcastle]

1. I'm glad that Buttigieg is at least trying to win in the South,

but I don't really expect him to. I think he can do better in the West and the Midwest, and I think that's more important because we actually have a chance at winning those states. No matter who wins the primaries in SC, MS, AL, etc., the Democrat is going to lose those states in the general election. I'm going to vote, of course, but my vote in MS won't amount to a hill of beans. That's just reality.

[JI7]

2. the bigger problem in getting minority votes for most candidates is Biden being in the race