Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Is this true.. that Booker said this about Hillary in the debate? [View all]betsuni
(29,108 posts)and colleagues, black turnout declined by 5 points nationally and even more in certain swing states. Black turnout decreased by over 12 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin, for example. Many, including Clinton herself, attributed this voter decrease to strict voter identification laws. ... A more important explanation for the drop in African American turnout had to do with Obama and Clinton themselves. When Obama ran in 2008 and 2012, black turnout was over 5 percentage points higher than it had been in any election on record. Obama's two campaigns confirmed research showing that African Americans' in-group identity -- their identification with blacks as a group -- impacts how they think and act in politics. Indeed, Barack Obama's extraordinary black support was concentrated among African Americans who expressed the most solidarity with other blacks. It was arguably unrealistic to expect similar levels of black turnout for a white Democratic candidate in 2016. That does not mean that Clinton was unpopular among African Americans. They were crucial to her victory in the Democratic primary, and through 2016, an average of 73 percent rated her favorably in both Gallup and YouGov polls."
Then there was the targeted propaganda accusing Clinton of racism. "Some black celebrities and public intellectuals even refused to vote for Clinton, whom they considered the lesser of two evils. ... The Trump campaign sought to capitalize on this controversy by repeatedly calling Clinton 'a bigot,' reminding black voters that Clinton had once implied that black youths were 'super predators,' claiming that Democratic politicians had let down the African American community, and accusing Clinton of treating Barack Obama with 'terrible disrespect' in their 2008 presidential debates. This was all in addition to falsely accusing Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign of starting the lie that Obama was not born in the United States."
From "Identity Crisis, The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America"
Our next nominee will also be accused of racism with the goal of depressing the black vote. Kamala Harris already has a whole list of conspiracy theories about how she wants black people in jail.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden