Time to wake up from your deep slumber, black America. The African American electorate will ultimately determine whether Democrats remain in power and how effectively President Obama will be able to govern for the remainder of his first term, political pundits state.
There are 20 House races where black turnout could determine the winners, and all of those races are concentrated in 14 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Now you know why Obama has logged in so many more frequent flier miles on Air Force One recently. Now you know why Obama has committed to making appearances on both BET and MTV. This is why Obama invited black journalists and bloggers to the White House recently. He knows that blacks will make the difference. Contrary to the effective propaganda by Republicans and the Tea Party, blacks can and will determine the direction of this country, based upon how this voting block turns out on Nov. 2. If blacks turn out in large numbers, Obama and Democrats win. If there is low turnout Democrats will lose according to political pundits.
Polls have stated that the minority and youth demographics are discouraged and won’t turn out like they did two years ago when they helped catapult Obama into the history books. Blacks believe Republican rhetoric that says the country is sinking and Obama is not the person to get us out of it. But, like Public Enemy once famously said, “Don’t believe the hype.”
Ruy Teixeira, a political demographer for the Center for American Progress, said certain parts of the Democratic base — particularly young voters and minorities — typically “tune in” just before an election, and Democrats could improve their chances if they galvanize those constituencies. Thus, you see a dramatic upswing in rallies, public appearances and TV appearances by the president and first lady Michelle Obama and other members of his administration.
Others believe that it will be a tough fight for Democrats to maintain the majority status, though it can be done.
“It is not at all clear that the outcome is going to be as grim for the Democats as at least some polls suggest today,” Teixeira said. “The Democrats could possibly get out of this election and still hold the House. I think it’s going to be very difficult, but it is not as impossible as it might appear.”
David Bositis — a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, who has analyzed the black electorate for more than two decades — also says blacks could sway more than a dozen Senate and gubernatorial races. “It’s not something where the Democrats and the candidates are going to be out there yelling, ‘We want the black vote,'” Bositis said. “They’re going to work through the black churches, the black media.”
Bositis said this election is reminiscent of the midterm elections in 1986, when large black turnouts helped Democrats gain House seats and take control of the Senate. That was followed Rev. Jesse Jackson’s historic presidential campaign in 1984. It happened again in 1998, when Democrats picked up governorships in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. That came right after the Republicans’ effort in 1998 to impeach then-President Bill Clinton.
When blacks get motivated, their votes change America, pundits say. –terry shropshire
