Democrats Bash Obama Yet Want Black Vote

Here are a few election-time questions to think over: Why in the world do Democrats think they can bash President Obama and his policies and still win Black votes? Why should Black voters be motivated to turn out after months of watching Democrats bash the president? What exactly is the strategy for Democrats to get Black voters out?

Many Democrats running this cycle, even in states and districts with large Black voting populations – including North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana – have made the deduction that annoying and ignoring Black voters is less important than winning White ones. The White swing voter is supposedly a more vital target than the Black voter who is a 95 percent sure bet to vote for a Democrat. It’s a fascinating strategy featuring Democrats running in fear of their own record while ignoring what’s happened over the last six years.

Thanks to the president, Osama Bin Laden is dead. The unemployment rate is now 5.9 percent. Even the Black unemployment rate dropped from 16.5 percent in 2011 to its current 11.4 percent. More than 8 million Americans have signed up for health care. The Republican contribution? Gridlock, more than 50 votes on Obamacare repeals and shutting down the government. The approval numbers for Republicans in Congress is lower than the president’s yet Democrats shun his policies?

Read the rest of this Black Press USA article.

In Black Vote, Democrats See Lifeline for Midterms

The confidential memo from a former pollster for President Barack Obama contained a blunt warning for Democrats. Written this month with an eye toward Election Day, it predicted “crushing Democratic losses across the country” if the party did not do more to attract Black voters to the polls.

“African American surge voters came out in force in 2008 and 2012, but they are not well-positioned to do so again in 2014,” Cornell Belcher, the pollster, wrote in the memo, dated Oct. 1. “In fact, over half aren’t even sure when the midterm elections are taking place.”

Belcher’s assessment points to an urgent imperative for Democrats: To keep Republicans from taking control of the Senate, as many predict, they need Black voters in at least four key states. Yet the one politician guaranteed to generate enthusiasm among African Americans is the same man many Democratic candidates want to avoid: Obama.

Read the rest of this New York Times article.

The 2014 Elections: What’s at Stake for African Americans

The 2014 elections are almost here, and the focus is whether the Republicans can gain control of the U.S. Senate, a first since 2006.

Thirty-six seats are being contested, and Republicans need only six gains to win a majority.

The stakes are extraordinarily high for the nation. But for African Americans in particular, the outcome of the midterm elections next month may not only be a game changer, but also a game ender.

First off, Republicans consistently oppose civil rights legislation. A GOP majority in the Senate would also likely put in jeopardy measures that help moderate and low-income Americans, including one essential initiative: an increase in the national minimum wage.

Click here to read the rest of this New Pittsburgh Courier article.

Hispanic, Black Groups Worry About Low Voter Turnout for Midterm Elections

The Hispanic and Black caucuses in Congress are concerned about a growing lack of interest in the midterm elections within their communities, a problem they say could complicate Democrats’ hopes of maintaining control of the Senate. [SOURCE]

The White House has not offered either caucus direct assistance in getting Black and Hispanic voters to the polls in November, even though those groups were crucial to President Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said the White House has made engaging with Latino voters more difficult by delaying action on immigration legislation until after the election.

Read the rest of the Washington Post article.

Ferguson The Aftermath: Why Voting and Voter Registration is a Non-Solution

By Rev. Dr. Earl Trent,

The fires are now out. The looting has stopped. Michael Brown has been buried. The militarized occupation forces have been withdrawn, the media storm has begun to subside and the investigations have begun. Media pundits are scrambling to deliver lessons learned and strategies are being offered and promoted to insure justice and “not let this moment pass.” The widely embraced strategy is to embark on a massive voter registration drive and get out the vote campaign. Chiefly this is in response to the fact that the largely black town of Ferguson has a virtually all white local government and police force. The idea is voting can remove the bad folks from office and help to ensure justice is done.

Conducting voter registration drives and turning out the vote on an election day is like using a wrench, pliers or rock to hammer a nail. It will "make do" but voting alone will not make the kind of systemic changes in Ferguson, MO or anywhere else in Black America if we want justice and a better way of life. I know this goes against what many of our civil rights leaders and politicians tell us but the numbers tell a different story.

In the 2008 election 96% of African Americans voted for Barack Obama. In 2012 election analysis by the Pew Research Center discovered that not only did President Obama garner more than 90% of the Black vote. Blacks voted at a greater percentage of their population than any other group including for the first time whites. In other words not only did we register and turn out in a hostile environment, we aggregated our vote and the result - not one piece of legislation specifically targeted to the economic well being of Black Americans was passed.

Read the rest of this KineticsLive article.

DNC Ad Uses President Obama to Rally Black Voters

President Obama is featured in a new ad for the Democratic National Committee, the first in a $1 million campaign to turn out young, minority and female voters in the midterm elections.

The radio ad titled “Obstruction” released Monday laments the opposition Obama has faced from congressional Republicans. It is aimed at black voters and will run on African American radio stations nationwide.

“No Democratic President in U.S history has faced the level of obstruction from the Republicans that Barack Obama has. It’s critical that we continue to fight for change and vote on Nov. 4,” the narrator says.

Obama then outlines his vision for an economy where “hard work pays off.” The radio spot features excerpts from a speech, where the president touts higher wages, affordable health insurance and decent health benefits.

Read full article on TheHill.

DNC Chair: Democrats Should Not Take Advantage Of African Americans

President Barack Obama is facing tough criticism from prominent Black leaders who said he has forgotten the poor. This onslaught makes the work of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Black vote more significant than ever for the 2012 presidential race.

During a roundtable discussion at the committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) said the Democrat Party should not use Blacks just for a vote in the 2012 election. Instead, she said, members should get to know the community and fight against voter suppression laws that affect not just African Americans, but everyone.

Read the rest of the Seattle Medium article.

Where To Vote: 50 States Websites

If you haven’t voted today (or in early voting) and you still need to know where to go; check out these links to state voting commissions:

• Alabama


• Alaska


• Arizona


• Arkansas


• California


• Colorado


• Connecticut


• Delaware


• District of Columbia


• Florida


• Georgia


• Hawaii


• Idaho


• Illinois


• Indiana


• Iowa


• Kansas


• Kentucky


• Louisiana


• Maine


• Maryland


• Massachusetts


• Michigan


• Minnesota


• Mississippi


• Missouri


• Montana


• Nebraska


• Nevada


• New Hampshire


• New Jersey


• New Hampshire


• New York


• North Carolina


• North Dakota


• Ohio


• Oklahoma


• Oregon


• Pennsylvania


• Rhode Island


• South Carolina


• South Dakota


• Tennessee


• Texas


• Utah


• Vermont


• Virginia


• Washington


• West Virginia


• Wisconsin


• Wyoming


• Vote From Abroad

Please share this information with others. We want to increase voter participation by everyone again in this 2010 election cycle.

Finally, check the link for your state to ensure that it is still accurate!

Will HATE Overcome HOPE in Election?

Soulclap to the folks at Presente.org for putting this video together. If you had any doubts about voting, this video should help get rid of them.





Tuesday, November 2nd, is Election Day. One factor will determine the outcome: Who votes. Stand up to the bigotry, hatred, and divisiveness that's permeating today's political climate. Vote Tuesday, and urge everyone you know to get to the polls.

Cross-posted from Electronic Village.

Raise Your Vote: Yes We Can!

We are 48 hours away from the November 2 elections. Each and every person who is reading this blog post needs to make a personal commitment to do two things:

1. Vote!
2. Get those in your sphere of influence to VOTE!

That's it. That's all there is to it. Either you are in favor of seeing our president succeed OR you are rallying with those who want to see him destroyed.

I choose to believe that Proud Black Voters like you and me can make the difference. As we told ourselves two years ago -- YES WE CAN!





What say u?

Will Black and Hispanic Voters Turn Out for Democrats This Fall?

by Chris Good (The Atlantic)

African Americans and Hispanics are two important blocs in the Democratic voting coalition that helped elect President Obama in 2008, but will they turn out for Democratic House and Senate candidates in this fall's elections?


In his column for National Journal this week, elections guru Charlie Cook writes about the economy and the midterms and makes a significant point: Blacks and Hispanics have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession during the last two years, and subsequently they're less enthusiastic about voting in the November elections:

Among two of the most important groups in the Democratic coalition, things are much worse. The unemployment rate among African Americans was 12.6 percent the month President Obama was sworn into office but now stands at 15.6 percent. Among Hispanics, it was 9.7 percent when President Obama took over; it's 12.1 percent now. Among job seekers ages 16 to 19, unemployment has gone from 20.8 percent to 26.1 percent (unfortunately, there is no broader breakdown in unemployment numbers for young people). These are the groups that Democrats need to turn out in big numbers; little wonder that polling shows them with substantially lower interest levels than they had in November 2008. When Democrats lost their majorities in November 1994, the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. When Republicans lost theirs in November 2006, unemployment was 4.5 percent. The latest Blue Chip Economic Indicators survey of 51 top economists reports a consensus unemployment forecast of the last quarter of this year to be 9.5 percent -- the most optimistic of the individual forecasters projected a 9.2 percent rate, the most pessimistic 9.9 percent. The consensus forecast for economic growth in the third quarter was that it would remain the same as has been reported for the second quarter, 2.4 percent, with the fourth quarter little better, 2.7 percent -- simply not enough to generate meaningful job growth.

The lack of a speedy economic recovery figures to hurt Democrats this fall, but the disproportionate jobless rates of African Americans and Hispanics could make the economy's impact on Democratic majorities even more acute.

Two factors that may combat this effect: Obama's popularity among Black voters and the intensity of the immigration debate. In December 2009, as Obama's approval ratings hovered around the 50% mark amid the messy health care debate, 9 in 10 African Americans still approved of him. And after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070, heated immigration rhetoric on the right and the Justice Department's lawsuit against Arizona may win points for Democrats among Hispanics, despite the fact that Congress will almost certainly not be able to pass comprehensive immigration reform before next year's session.