Time: Is Kerry Leaving Blacks Cold?

[WI_DEM]

Snip:
Because black voters are more opposed to President Bush than is almost any other voting bloc (I actually think muslims now have them beat), John Kerry's first move to secure their enthusiastic support might have been simply to follow Hippocrates' instruction: do no harm. But when he appeared before the National Conference of Black Mayors in April, Kerry chose to speak not about their concerns but about his plan to make the U.S>'s chemical plants more secure--leaving the audience underwhelmed. And when Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, listed his top election strategists, it revealed that the group of six was all white, angering black activists who feel the Democratic party takes African Americans for granted...

http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,658329,00.html

I don't worry about Kerry getting 90% of the African-American vote. The question is will it be 90% of 10,000,000--the number of AA or 90% of 8,000,000--turnout is critical and Clinton and Gore were able to really motivate African-American turnout--I'm not sure Kerry (as yet) is catching on in the same way.

[joeybee12]

1. I'm not sure if he's catching on with any liberal/progressive group

either.

All you hear about is swing votes he's courting, as well as veterans. He does seem to be taking the base for granted.

Speaking for myself, I've volunteered the past several presidential elections and giving money. Can't see myself doing that now. Sure, I'm voting for Kerry, but that's about it right now. I can easily change my mind later on (about money/volunteering), but nothing so far has gotten me excited about his candidacy, other than I think he'll beat Bush.

[JI7]

2. Kerry got large majority of black and other minority turnout in the

primaries. in most states kerry got 60 percent or more of the black voters. there is no doubt he can turn out the vote. i believe that time in april was when he focused on national security issues. yesterday at the rainbow push coalition he focused more on issues that specifically affect minorities as he has been doing more recently with all groups of people .

[WI_DEM]

4. As noted he can get a large percentage of their votes

but it is turnout which is may be lagging as with any voting bloc if they are not enthused by the candidate. In the later primaries as well I think Kerry was aided by a bandwagon effect too.

[AspenRose]

3. Note to Mr. Kerry: Please take Harold Ford under your wing

...and groom him. He is a smart congressman, a rising star and could likely help turn out the vote.

[JI7]

5. Harold Ford was one of Kerry's earliest supporters

he stuck with Kerry through the good and bad times. he went to other states to campaign for him and did many other things. i remember he was the one who was always on tv and defending kerry and even when people talked about how kerry's campaign was over and he was low in the polls, ford continued working hard for him.

[BayCityProgressive]

6. Kerry needs to ratchet up support

for affordable child care, housing, abolishing death penalty and racial profiling, and supporting affirmative action.

[Soloflecks]

7. One woman interviewed put it very well.

Heard last night on CBS, I think. I believe she was asked about Clinton vs Kerry on attending an African-American church. She said one reaches for the hymnal and starts to sing, and the other has to be offered a hymnal and prompted to sing.

[JI7]

8. Kerry isn't a very openly religious guy, and he is Catholic

where the worshippers are more reserved.and he also grew up where seapration of church and state was a big thing and religious worship is more of a private thing. but kerry has attended many black churches and will continue to. but if they are expecting him to "preach" like clinton did, he isn't going to do it because that's just not him. he will be himself and try to get support that way. and he does a pretty good job of it.

[sandnsea]

11. And yet

Kerry has done more for the minority communities than Clinton. SCHIP, YouthBuild, microloan program, minority small business assistance, empowerment zones, school building programs, national housing trust, cops on the street, all started by Kerry or programs he's fought for. Kerry's that guy who is busy watching over the building fund to put the roof on the church, not very sexy but just as caring and maybe more important.

[JI7]

14. see post #13

and you are right kerry has done a lot more which is why he did so well with minority voters. these articles always ignore the things kerry did. it's not really balanced. and when kerry does go to events with many blacks or other minorities they call it pandering to the blacks.

but as shown in post 13 kerry has proved he can get out the vote and does well with minorities and he will do it again this time.

and he is not ignoring anyone. these articles always talk about unnamed sources which tell nothing.

[sandnsea]

16. Uhm, preaching to the choir

But you knew that, right? :-)

[AP]

9. Race makes decision between Gep, Edwards, et al, interesting.

I heard during the primaries that Edwards has had more black votes for him than all the other candidates combined.

North Carolina had a 2000 population of 8,049,313, which was 72.1% white, and 21.6% black (about 1.7 million). (http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t6/tab02.txt)

Gep's congressional district is only 9.7% black (60,000), and it's 88% white. (http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-state=qt&-context=qt&-qr_name=DEC_2000_108H_QTP5&-ds_name=DEC_2000_108H&-tree_id=601&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=500$50000US2903&-format=&-_lang=en)

[JI7]

13. no, Kerry got a lot more

in south carolina edwards got 37 percent while Kerry got 34 percent.

in tennessee Kerry got 47 percent while Edwards got 15 percent.

in virginia Kerry got 61 percent while Edwards got 20 percent.

in wisconsin Kerry got 55 percent while Edwards got 15 percent.

in georgia Kerry got 61 percent while Edwards got 25 percent.

in Ohio Kerry got 60 percent while Edwards got 24 percent.

as you can see, Kerry did a lot better among minority voters itself than white voters or combined.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/OH/index.html

[AP]

21. No, I mean in their respective elections in their careers.

and not in the primaries.

Edwards might have gotten as much as 1 million black votes in his one senate election. I think I read that that was more than all the other's combined, but that must have been in each one's most recent election. However, it's possible that Gephardt only has maybe 350,000 career black votes.

If you count by the number of individuals and not the number of times they've voted, Edwards might still be out front (eg, Gep might have only about 45K unique black voters, while Edwards has 1.1-1.25 million. I don't know what demographics are in Mass, but NC has more EVs, I believe, so Edwards could still be ahead of Kerry there, and I doubt that the black vote has ever been the make or break vote for Kerry as it was with Edwards in 98 -- after Gant's two elections, black voters were motivated to get Edwards a win; he really delivered for black voters more than anyone else).

It was the black vote in NC that won him that race in '98.

[sandnsea]

18. Uhm, think you heard wrong

Kerry beat Edwards in the south with the black vote. He beat both Gep & Dean with the union vote. He led with women's vote and even young people. Edwards got the centrist white vote, particularly rural white vote. That's always been Edwards' strong suit to me, his ability to reach those rural people who have felt ignored by the Dem party for such a long time. Kerry can put together a strong minority base and Edwards can take the message to those voters who used to be Dem and should be again. It's a winning strategy I think. But I don't know what the campaign has in mind, so I'm just blabbering anyway.

[cally]

10. Remember all the similar stories about Al Gore?

I think all Dems need to do more to address concerns of black voters however I don't believe this article. It's just too similar to the junk they put out about Gore. :eyes:

[WI_DEM]

12. not really

I don't think African-Americans were ever turned off by Gore--I do recall stories about other liberal elements of the party however.

[JI7]

15. there were stories out then

especially after he picked lieberman about how the blacks were angry and other crap. of course none of it was true.

just as much of this on kerry isn't true. he has proven he does very well among minorities in the primaries and he will prove it again in the general election. and it wasn't just bandwagon since he did significantly better among black voters than all voters as a whole. he did very well among women and latinos also.

[cally]

23. Many of the stories were about how Gore did not have the

same appeal as Clinton. Then the myriad of stories about how Lieberman insulted black voters. All of that may be true, but turnout was astounding in the 2000 election.

I think Kerry needs to come out strongly about the disenfranchisement of African-American voters. How all Americans are valued and to reach out to this constituency in myriad ways. However, I just doubt the gloom and doom articles at this point.

[mzmolly]

17. Time has done it's part to discourage black voters thus helping Bush.

Thank YOU Time Magazine from the Bush/Cheney 04 campaign :toast:

"The Kerry campaign badly wants to assure African Americans that they have access to and the attention of the candidate. Kerry aides say Congressional Black Caucus chair Elijah Cummings, Representative Greg Meeks of New York City and deputy campaign manager Marcus Jadotte, all African Americans, are among those who talk with the candidate on his ever-present cell phone. Top campaign officials meet with the caucus every two weeks. Vernon Jordan, a former Clinton aide and a prominent black lawyer, was named last week to head the campaign's presidential-debate negotiating team."

More of the painting of Kerry as an out of touch elitist by the press. ZZZZZZ.

[JI7]

19. notice the disconnect between the headline and what is actually happening

in the campaign.

[mzmolly]

20. I did. I can smell the spin. KERRY - ELITIST - OUT OF TOUCH -

ALOOF - UNLIKABLE, LIBERAL. :eyes:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

22. Progressive1: "Is Time Magazine Subtlely Shilling for George Bush"?

I read The Nation!

Time is Toilet Paper!

:argh:

[Zorra]

24. Bu$h will leave 3/4 of all Americans cold, as in unable to pay for heating

their homes.

Yuh. Voting for Bu$h, or not voting at all, is a great idea for minorities.

Hey, kids! Try the new Jim Jones flavor Kool Aid, available only at your local RNC distributor.