To avoid GOP romp, Democrats must get out black vote

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
To avoid GOP romp,
Democrats must get out black vote</font size></center>



McClatchy Newspapers
By William Douglas
Thursday, October 14, 2010


WASHINGTON — African-American voters could have a major impact on the outcome of 20 House of Representatives races and 14 Senate contests if they can reverse a pattern of low turnout in nonpresidential election years, according to a report that the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released Thursday.



<font size="4">Black Turnout No Guarantee</font size>

Improved African-American turnout by the Democratic Party's most loyal voting bloc is no guarantee against Republicans winning the 40 seats they need to regain control of the House, the report says, but it could help Democrats "significantly reduce their potential losses."

"There's no getting around it: It's going to be a bad year for the Democrats," said David Bositis, the center's senior political analyst. "How tough a year it's going to be for the Democrats will very much depend upon their base, and there's no part of their base that is more important than the African-American vote."


20 Districts & The Black Vote

The study identifies 20 competitive House contests — 15 of them in the South — in districts with African-American voting populations of 10 percent or more. They include three districts in Virginia, three in Ohio, two in Louisiana and two in Arkansas.

"If Democrats retain half of these seats, it would be difficult for the GOP to gain the 40 seats necessary to regain the majority in the U.S. House," the report says. "Further, there are two GOP-held seats where black voters are a substantial bloc, and every Democratic pickup will make the GOP's goal of 40 more difficult to attain."

Of the 20 House races, two of the districts are held by Republicans:

• Anh "Joseph" Cao in New Orleans and

• Patrick Tiberi, R-Ohio, whose district includes Columbus.

• There's also a GOP seat in Delaware that became open after Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., tried and failed to win the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat. He lost to tea party-backed Christine O'Donnell.

• Seven of those 20 seats are held by fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, and some political analysts think that could pose a problem in generating African-American enthusiasm at the polls.
  
  
  • Several Blue Dogs voted against the health care bill, a measure that had strong support among African-Americans. Locked in tough re-election battles, some are touting their differences with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in order to woo conservative votes.

Alabama & Georgia Got Damn!

At least two incumbent Democrats — Reps. Bobby Bright of Alabama and Jim Marshall of Georgia — have signaled that they won't vote for Pelosi to be speaker again if Democrats keep the House.

In fact, the Alabama Democratic Conference, a black political organization, recently endorsed Bright in spite of his voting record largely to help Democrats retain the House.

"That was the only reason," said Jerome Gray, a former field director for the group.


The Senate

On the Senate side, the report says that African-Americans could make a difference in several key races, including the matchup between Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer and Republican Carly Fiorina in California; tea party-backed Republican Rand Paul's race against Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky; Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak's bid against Republican Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania; and Florida's contest among Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, Republican Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican turned independent.

Democratic Party officials say they're working feverishly to ensure a better-than-average African-American midterm election turnout. Democrats and their allies are spending $50 million aimed at minority and young voters.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Thursday that low voter turnout in nonpresidential election years wasn't "an African-American voter phenomenon. It's not a regional phenomenon. Nobody votes in midterms like they do in regular years."

Still, Kaine said his party was doing all it could to encourage African-Americans to vote next month. For example, it's aggressively upped its advertising in African-American-oriented media — mainly radio and newspapers — from $280,000 for the nonpresidential 2006 elections to $3 million this year.

"In this reach-out to voters that we're doing . . . African-American voters are a very significant focus of our canvassing," Kaine said. "Thirty-five percent of the new voters in 2008 were African-Americans, so in addition to reaching reliable, every-year voters through traditional media we're also spending a lot of time with the new voters, too, to have them turn out at a higher level than would be the norm."



http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/14/102063/to-avoid-gop-romp-democrats-must.html

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Michelle Obama hits trail
to help vulnerable Democrats</font size></center>

First lady Michelle Obama is well thought of | Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)


McClatchy Newspapers
By Steven Thomma
October 13, 2010


MILWAUKEE — As polls show her among the most popular political figures in the land, Michelle Obama returned to the campaign trail Wednesday for the first time since her husband's successful 2008 bid for the presidency.

"Now to tell you the truth, this thing here, I don't do this very often," the first lady said to laughs as she opened a campaign swing to help embattled Democrats, starting with Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who's fighting for a fourth term and is behind in the polls.

"In fact, I haven't really been on the trail since a little campaign you might remember a couple of years ago, this cute, tall, skinny guy," she said, reading from a teleprompter.

The White House hopes that Michelle Obama can help reignite some of the passion from that 2008 campaign in time to get more Democrats and left-leaning independents to vote in Senate races that the party is in very real danger of losing.

After speaking at a fund-raising lunch for Feingold, she headed to Illinois to help Alexi Giannnoulias, the Democrat running for the Senate seat once held by her husband. Next, she planned to travel to Colorado to campaign for incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet. The first lady is scheduled to meet up with her husband Sunday in Ohio.

In Wisconsin, she lauded Feingold for supporting the health care overhaul signed into law by her husband, and also for sometimes disagreeing with the president. Feingold, a liberal with a maverick streak, relishes his role as an independent.

"When my husband was here in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago, he talked about how independent and outspoken Russ is, and how Russ doesn't always agree with him," she said. "So Russ, that's something that you and I have in common."

"This is exactly what we need," Feingold said at the start of the lunch, which drew about 400 people who paid $250 to $500 each to attend.

"The race that I'm in remains close. We have the momentum. We are moving in the right direction."

Feingold trails Republican Ron Johnson by 7.3 percentage points, according to an averaging of recent polls by RealClearPolitics.com.

Polls consistently show Michelle Obama at or near the top of the list of most popular political figures in the country — more popular than her husband, and considerably more popular than any national Republican figure such as Sarah Palin.

A recent Bloomberg poll found Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the most personally popular political figure in the country, with 64 percent of likely 2010 voters saying they have a favorable impression of her. Michelle Obama was a close second, with 62 percent holding a favorable opinion and 25 percent with an unfavorable opinion.

Her popularity isn't surprising, given how she's shied away from partisan politics since moving into the White House to focus instead on such non-controversial issues as fighting child obesity or helping the families of military veterans.

"She is an invaluable asset to this White House," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Asked whether she might sacrifice some of her popularity by campaigning, Gibbs said that she'd stick to praising Democrats and avoid partisan criticism of Republicans.

"You'll see her make a very positive case for these candidates, not get involved in the back-and-forth of normal political campaigns," he said.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus said her visit undercuts Feingold's claim to be an anti-Washington maverick.

"For a guy trying to run on his independence," Priebus said, "Russ Feingold sure is getting a lot of help from the Washington establishment."



http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/13/102002/michelle-obama-hits-trail-to-help.html

 

[QueEx]

 

[thoughtone]

If Black folk voted in significant numbers regularly, would we have so many issues?

 

[HotSauce161]

If Black folk voted in significant numbers regularly, would we have so many issues?

It's much worse than that. If people in general voted in greater numbers things would be different. The % of voters that actually participate is shockingly low across the board. That's why lobbyists have so much power. Their $ can guarantee you enough votes to win re-election. the only counter is an active electorate.

People only have themselves to blame on this one.

 

[thoughtone]

It's much worse than that. If people in general voted in greater numbers things would be different. The % of voters that actually participate is shockingly low across the board. That's why lobbyists have so much power. Their $ can guarantee you enough votes to win re-election. the only counter is an active electorate.

People only have themselves to blame on this one.

The US has among the lowest voter participation of all democratic countries. Why do you think the right and corporations have such a grip in the US. This was not written in the constitution.

 

[QueEx]

The US has among the lowest voter participation of all democratic countries. Why do you think the right and corporations have such a grip in the US. This was not written in the constitution.

You're probably saying something that I'm missing (probably my fault, not yours).

Assuming as you pose that the U.S. has the lowest voter participation of all "so-called" democratic countries:

• How do we assume that such lower voter participation allows "the right and corporations such a grip in the US" ?
  
  
  • Could it be that those who don't vote might fall, more or less, equally across the political vote spectrum?

• What does lower voter participation and the supposed grip that the right and corporations have to do with the Constitution?

I'm not necessarily questioning your conclusions, but I am having problems with the logic.

QueEx

 

[QueEx]

 

[QueEx]

Op-Ed Columnist

<font size="5"><center>
Threat Response</font size></center>

Charles M. Blow

The New York Times
Opinion Page
By CHARLES M. BLOW
October 15, 2010


The president and fellow Democrats have taken a page from the Republican playbook. They’re unabashedly using racial-solidarity politics to animate voters. In this case, the Democrats’ appeal is to black voters, the most unwavering portion of President Obama’s base, and the message is simple: The president is under attack, and black voters must mobilize to protect him.

The Democratic National Committee is spending an unprecedented $3 million on advertising aimed at African-Americans for the midterms this year. As part of that effort, the committee has cut a new radio ad featuring the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the civil rights leader, that outlines the threat and the call to action: “When young people took to the streets, we elected our first African-American president. Right now, there are those doing everything in their power to block the president’s agenda. And that’s why we’re counting on you to vote. In 2008, we changed the guard. This year, we must guard the change.”

Other ads, on black radio and in black newspapers, simply extol their audiences to “stand with President Obama.”

These ads aren’t about policy. They’re personal appeals on behalf of the president. You don’t have to be engaged to get it. This November you’re voting for Obama, again.

As Politico noted this week, “the White House has hesitated to cast the midterm elections as a referendum on President Barack Obama, except when it comes to one key constituency: African-American voters.”

This strategy could prove extremely effective.

A report issued Thursday by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies outlines the fact that black voters are “strategically situated in 2010 to have a major impact” because (1) there is “a significant number of black voters in the states and districts where many of the most competitive elections will be held” and (2) “there is a president who is very popular with African-Americans and who is under attack from Congressional Republicans.”

And Friday, The Washington Post reported that a poll by that newspaper, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University found that “80 percent of black Democrats are as interested or more interested in the midterms than they were in the 2008 presidential election.”

A large black turnout next month could prove decisive and upset the predictions of most pundits. If blacks do turn out in record numbers, it would almost certainly be because they are drawn out by their devotion to Obama, a devotion he’s counting on.

As the president told an audience last week at Bowie State University, a historically black college, in Maryland: “I think the pundits are wrong. But it’s up to you to prove them wrong. Don’t make me look bad, now.”

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on October 16, 2010, on page A19 of the New York edition.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/opinion/16blow.html?_r=2&ref=opinion