Democrats worried about Black voter turnout for Biden in 2024: WP
Some analysts believe that Democrats must show Black voters how Biden's presidency has benefited them and encouraged them to vote.
Democrats are becoming increasingly concerned about a reduction in Black voter turnout in the upcoming 2024 election, according to The Washington Post. Black Americans make up the party's most devoted base, who played a significant role in giving US President Joe Biden the White House in 2020 and will be critical in his reelection effort.
Their fear arises from a 10-point reduction in Black voter turnout in last year's midterm elections compared to 2018, the largest loss of any racial or ethnic group, according to a Washington Post analysis of the Census Bureau's turnout study.
Internal party data reveals the core of the Democratic effort is centered in Georgia, where turnout in last year's midterm elections was substantially lower among younger and male Black voters.
Biden's 2020 election rested on tight victory in states won by former US President Donald Trump in 2016, including Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania and organizers warn that the party cannot afford the loss of Black votes.
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W. Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, believes Democrats are too concerned with attempting to convince "conservative-leaning White women," in the suburbs who they see as swing votes.
Robinson expressed the Democratic Party has been "failing epically" at reaching Black males, spending too much time attempting to persuade "conservative-leaning White women" in the suburbs who they regard as swing votes. Instead, he believes they should focus more on mobilizing Black males, perceiving them as swing voters who are undecided about whether to vote or not.
Biden’s political team has reported it acknowledges this issue and is attempting to take action.
Cedric L. Richmond, a former Biden adviser who is now a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee believes the goal is to ensure Black voters know how Biden's presidency has benefited them.
Black voter activists say Black males in particular feel estranged from the political process and have been harmed by policies supported by both parties that led to increasing imprisonment and a drop in manufacturing employment decades ago.
Black women had a significant role in Biden's election in 2020. Advocates anticipate that tendency to continue, especially since VP Kamala Harris and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson are both the first Black women in their positions.
Terrance Woodbury, CEO of HIT Strategies, a polling firm concentrating on young, non-White voters, believes the party's focus on Trump and Republican radicalism is less likely to energize younger Black males than policy advantages arguments.
Woodbury's polls have shown that Black Americans believing their vote is irrelevant is the biggest hurdle to voting.
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In May, a Washington Post/Ipsos poll of Black Americans indicated only 17% of Black Americans would be thrilled if he won another term, while 48% said they would be satisfied but not exuberant, 25% said they would be dissatisfied but not furious, and 8% said they would be outraged about another Biden term. According to the study, nearly 8 in 10 Black Americans would not vote for Trump over Biden, and 54% would be "angry" if Trump were elected president again.
Brittany Smith, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Black Leadership PAC (BLP), which works to turn out Black voters, expressed a major shift in Black voter attitudes in recent years.
Now, she claims, many people are cynical about politics, which necessitates a higher degree of persuasion.
Smith expressed that for some time, “ [Black voters] have been telling us for a long time what matters,” adding that this includes the ability to afford food and shelter as well as living in safe neighborhoods.
She believes it is not about if the issues are new but rather the method by which they are discussed.
According to Jay Williams, a longtime GOP strategist in Georgia and the head of the Stoneridge Group, a Republican business, school choice and transgender and LGBTQ+ issues, particularly as they pertain to children and schools, might hurt Democrats among their dependable base.
Something to vote for instead of vote against
Willaims stated that some cultural issues "don’t typically resonate with the Black community as a whole and frankly a lot of minority communities,” adding that “Republicans will be able to peel some folks off based on that, depending on the area. It could be a real wedge issue for us.”
According to Sharif Street, a Pennsylvania state senator and the chairman of the state Democratic Party, people need not only something to vote against, like Donald Trump but something significant to vote for.
"Better than the Republicans is not always enough to get people motivated to vote.”
Organizers targeting Black participation in Detroit have made education about how politics operate a focus of their appeal, coupled with tangible examples of state and federal legislation that has helped people.
Malcolm Kenyatta, a Black Pennsylvania state legislator, believes that if Democrats can communicate Biden's accomplishments, Black people would support him next year. He compares it to being married and that "You have to spend just as much time, maybe even more time, on the people who show up for you every time as you do for the people who don’t."
Kenyatta emphasized that "What Black folks care about is what everybody cares about, to be able to take care of their community, to be able to live in a community that is safe."
Supporters believe that labor should begin early and be constant. Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Votes Matter, believes that "there’s no path, whether it’s President Biden or any other Democrat, federal or state, there’s no path to win that does not involve massive turnout from Black voters."
Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin's first Black lieutenant governor, campaigned for the Senate in 2022 and lost by 26,000 votes, most of which might be attributed to low participation in the mainly Black metropolis of Milwaukee.
According to Barnes, "In a swing state like Wisconsin, we could very well be the tipping point …This country, and that power, is in the hands of Black voters, and we have to take that power seriously.”
Poll shows third-party candidate may potentially fair in US elections
A report by Bloomberg on July 20 revealed, citing results from a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, that the next presidential elections could present a third-party candidate that is likely to impact a possible rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
According to the poll results, nearly half of eligible voters, namely 47% of polled individuals, said they would consider voting for a third-party candidate for the next presidential elections.
Lately, the No Labels advocacy group has attracted a considerable amount of attention as it is actively contemplating the possibility of fielding a candidate.
In the Democratic nomination, Biden is not facing major competition. Neither is Trump who is currently standing as the GOP frontrunner. But the prospects of a third party are fueling speculation that Biden may face some serious challenges ahead of the elections as voters who dislike both Trump and Biden tend to be Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents.