Issues Under Fire: Why is Barack Obama Begging Black America to Vote for Hillary Clinton?
This weekend, President Obama did all he could to give Hillary Clinton's campaign a boost with African Americans. Speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation gala dinner in D.C. where Clinton also spoke, Barack Obama stated, he'd be personally insulted if Blacks didn't vote for her. While the polls show Hillary Clinton enjoying an 83% advantage over Donald Trump with Black voters, most of that support is coming from older Black women (most loyal Democrats). But, because younger Black voters have no such loyalty to the Democratic Party, that 83% is meaningless if they don't participate.
Some Democratic Party leaders are increasingly worried young Black voters may simply sit out the 2016 general election. Others are more concerned those voters may be considering other options and directions altogether. And from this observer's perspective, they should be worried. They should be very worried. Younger Black voters are far more politically savvy than their elders, this go around.
Just because the vast majority of young Black voters didn't attend Harvard like Barack Obama, doesn't mean they're stupid. They know the difference between a living wage and a minimum wage. They know the difference between a low college interest rate loan and tuition free university for all who qualify. They understand the difference between legalizing marijuana and looking at endless scientific studies to determine the medical value of pot. And most importantly, they know they can't trust Hillary Clinton to reform the very Criminal Justice System her husband used to lock their parents up and destroy their families.
Just because Barack Obama is Black and possess the gift of gab, don't mean he'll be able to influence this demographic when it comes to the Clinton campaign. In fact, Barack Obama's full throated support for Hillary Clinton may actually hurt him in the eyes of many younger, disappointed and disillusioned voters. They still remember the vision Barack Obama projected and promised for the future in 2008. And they remember why they chose that vision over Hillary Clinton's. Selling Black millennials on Hillary Clinton's minimalist approach to progress is a heavy lift to say the least.
Many feel Barack Obama's advising young Blacks to put their faith and fates in Hillary Clinton's hands is actually tantamount to insulting them. They've already done the math on Hillary Clinton and she just doesn't add up. Making the argument that a vote for Hillary Clinton will keep the racist, sexist, xenophobic Donald Trump out of the White House is not nearly enough. He has to tell America's young Black voters specifically how Hillary Clinton will change the trajectory of their lives. And at this point, many will want proof and not a recitation of a few policy proposals and recommendations for reforms that'll surely die in Congress.
Bottom line: Young Black voters are no different than young White, Latino or Asian voters. They're all looking for the same thing. They want a future they can afford and they want that future to be one worth living. America's youth, Black, White and everyone in between want change. They also know if they're going to have any chance at all in salvaging their generation and the next, the change they're seeking has to be revolutionary. And the last thing Hillary Clinton can be described as is an agent of change, let along a revolutionary. Podcast below.
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