why does Hillary Clinton have such staggering support amongst black Americans?

[IGIT]

The polls I've seen haven't just limited it to "black voters".
It's the "Bernie Bros" (young white males) versus everyone else.

heya Rup,

wasn't it just young people, in general, who came out to support Mr. Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire?

the under 40 crowd swung to Sanders, whilst the senior citizen vote went to Mrs. Clinton.

- IGIT

 

[Ruprecht]

heya Rup,

wasn't it just young people, in general, who came out to support Mr. Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire?

the under 40 crowd swung to Sanders, whilst the senior citizen vote went to Mrs. Clinton.

- IGIT

Probably. The poll I linked to was national though, and shows the breakdown by individual categories. It was younger voters, white voters and male voters where Bernie closed the gap to Clinton. In Iowa the gaps had generally closed, and Sanders did even better with the under 30 crowd than he has polled nationally, but the same trends are apparent. As I understand it, the non-white vote wouldn't be much of a factor in Iowa?

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

hi Logical,

he may have been on the front lines from day one, but...well, the civil rights movement was a long, long time ago.

it may be that outside of Vermont, many black southerners just don't know who Mr. Sanders is.

but still...if black americans see the primary justification for supporting Mrs. Clinton as "she was married to Bill"....hmmm. that's seems kind of thin, to me.

- IGIT

That was just a theory...I just don't understand the obsession with Hillary Clinton and her overwhelming popularity with the black voting bloc.

It still puzzles me...it could also be her popularity among democrat voters in general.

 

[IGIT]

Probably. The poll I linked to was national though, and shows the breakdown by individual categories. It was younger voters, white voters and male voters where Bernie closed the gap to Clinton. In Iowa the gaps had generally closed, and Sanders did even better with the under 30 crowd than he has polled nationally, but the same trends are apparent. As I understand it, the non-white vote wouldn't be much of a factor in Iowa?

hello Ruprecht,

its true that both Iowa and New Hampshire are primarily white enclaves, though if memory serves me correct, the non-white vote in New Hampshire was roughly 50/50 between Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton.

it is true that the youth vote (i don't know if i'd call folks between 30 and 40 "young"...they're basically middle aged) went to Mr. Sanders, but i think its relevant that most demographics were overwhelmingly in favor of Mrs. Clinton just this past summer.

she has had much more money than Mr. Sanders, along with a robust infrastructure, along with immense name recognition. when i look at actual policy though, i'm unclear why black voters would skew so resoundingly in her favor.

to say that black voters are "low information voters" would be racist - so i don't want to make that claim. the only other reason i can find for such fervent support among black americans for Mrs. Clinton is they've done an in depth analysis of her proposals, and find her pragmatic, limited approach more reasonable that Mr. Sanders...

...but to me, that also sounds ludicrous (which makes me sound racist, once more).

- IGIT

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

IGIT

I would wager it comes down to lack of voter knowledge with perhaps the intrinsic nature of the common, uninformed black voter to be weary of the old, white, jew.

 

[speakhandsforme]

Same reason Donald Trump has strong support among blacks in regards to Republican candidates: Hillary has incredible name recognition and black America is generally less politically engaged and has weaker access to news mediums, be it television or internet.

 

[Fawlty]

Yep, its because of Bill. The AA community loves Bill.

Which is interesting, considering the welfare reform act, which gave states more power to disperse welfare as they saw fit. But the lower to lower middle class were doing pretty well so that probably more than made up for it.

 

[IGIT]

That was just a theory...I just don't understand the obsession with Hillary Clinton and her overwhelming popularity with the black voting bloc.

It still puzzles me...it could also be her popularity among democrat voters in general.

hey there Logical,

i can understand her popularity. as one who has voted mostly for Democrats all my life, i feel a great deal of sympathy for her.

she gets slagged on for being tough, or cold, or calculating - when her male counterparts routinely get a pass. the GOP spearheaded Benghazi hearings have been nauseating, for sure. i admire her steadfastness after her husband basically humiliated her nationally with Ms. Lewinsky (along with a horde of other women).

she has, of course, immense name recognition also. there is a feeling, nationally amongst democrats, that its "her turn".

i get all of that.

i can see why some folks, particularly monied, centrist Democrats would like her.

i just don't understand why she's so incredibly popular among black americans, i really don't.

- IGIT

 

[IGIT]

Same reason Donald Trump has strong support among blacks in regards to Republican candidates: Hillary has incredible name recognition and black America is generally less politically engaged and has weaker access to news mediums, be it television or internet.

hi speakhandsforme,

if thats all it boils down to for black americans, that her last name is "Clinton"...well....

....that depresses me.

i mean, whatever else one might say, that's not a very nuanced reason to support her.

- IGIT

 

[Ruprecht]

hello Ruprecht,

its true that both Iowa and New Hampshire are primarily white enclaves, though if memory serves me correct, the non-white vote in New Hampshire was roughly 50/50 between Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton.

it is true that the youth vote (i don't know if i'd call folks between 30 and 40 "young"...they're basically middle aged) went to Mr. Sanders, but i think its relevant that most demographics were overwhelmingly in favor of Mrs. Clinton just this past summer.

she has had much more money that Mr. Sanders, along with a robust infrastructure, along with immense name recognition. when i look at actual policy though, i'm unclear why black voters would skew so resoundingly in her favor.

to say that black voters are "low information voters" would be racist - so i don't want to make that claim. the only other reason i can find for such fervent support among black americans for Mrs. Clinton is they've done an in depth analysis of her proposals, and find her pragmatic, limited approach more reasonable that Mr. Sanders...

...but to me, that also sounds ludicrous (which makes me sound racist, once more).

- IGIT

It's not just amongst "Black" voters, Sanders also trails Clinton with 33 to her 54 percent amongst "Hispanic" voters.
As for why, I'd be reluctant to guess. Maybe non-white Americans prefer a more aggressive foreign policy?
Obviously Clinton's branding is stronger (and not just because of Bill, her role as Secretary of state and her 2008 campaign definitely raised her profile). I can't tell from over here, but it's also highly likely that she's running a better campaign (in terms of appearances, advertising etc). As you point out, she's spending more.

In terms of the online views spouted by "black" pundits and activists, they tend to be very critical of Clinton, so I'm leaning towards the latter reasons.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Its downright paradoxical.

 

[silicavaginitis]

A better question is how Hillary, being a pathological liar, gets any support at all.

 

[nixkid]

Maybe Bernie has done a shitty job reaching out? He's certainly has had quite a few missteps. First, early on, he basically refused to talk about black issues. When young politically active black activists (the kind of people that could have made up the base of his black support) tried to force his hand in dealing with issues that they cared about, he became visibly upset. Instead of seeing that as a opportunity, many of his very vocal supporters thought it would be a good idea to publicly lash out at those black activists which rose to the level of harassment in some cases. They also thought it would be a good idea to lecture black people about what is good for black people while completely dismissing what these young activists feel is important. And they did so with very crappy arguments like "Bernie marched for civil rights in the 1960s" as if an action done 50 years ago is relevant enough to earn a vote today. These were bad ideas. Another issue is Bernie's stance on reparations. Its fine to be against reparations but his response to the question is simply dumbfounding. He says he's against it because it would be impossible to get through Congress. His entire platform is impossible to get through Congress so it comes off as hollow political doublespeak from a wavering politician that is too afraid to say that he is against it but also too afraid to say he supports it.

Most of what he's done since has been 90% pandering and 10% policy. Now the same can be said of Clinton but she's the presumptive nominee. If you want to pry votes away from the default choice then you have to give people a reason. He's done a wonderful job of that with young, white liberals but he's got some work to do with everyone else.

 

[panamaican]

It seems fairly obvious. Hilary Clinton has strong name recognition with 2 Presidents that black America supported against the GOP.

The "low information" and "disengaged" angle implies that given more information black Americans would overwhelmingly decide to side with Sanders. Nothing against the man but he's a relative unknown. So until his candidacy reaches the level of name recognition that Clinton has built up over the years, there's no reason for them to dramatically shift to him.

Wait until after those states with large black communities have their primaries to decide if the early support is actually continuous. Hilary polled well with women right up to the NH primary when her supposed strongest demographic overwhelmingly voted against her. I can't find the exact numbers but I believe that Sanders won the black vote in NH as well.

 

[MicroBrew]

It seems fairly obvious. Hilary Clinton has strong name recognition with 2 Presidents that black America supported against the GOP.

The "low information" and "disengaged" angle implies that given more information black Americans would overwhelmingly decide to side with Sanders. Nothing against the man but he's a relative unknown. So until his candidacy reaches the level of name recognition that Clinton has built up over the years, there's no reason for them to dramatically shift to him.

Wait until after those states with large black communities have their primaries to decide if the early support is actually continuous. Hilary polled well with women right up to the NH primary when her supposed strongest demographic overwhelmingly voted against her. I can't find the exact numbers but I believe that Sanders won the black vote in NH as well.

Most Black and Hispanics aren't as tuned into politics as Whites , ergo the lack of support for Sanders amongst them.

 

[panamaican]

Most Black and Hispanics aren't as tuned into politics as Whites , ergo the lack of support for Sanders amongst them.

I wasn't challenging the idea that blacks/Hispanics are less tuned into politics than whites. I have no idea if it's true.

My point was that even if it's true it doesn't mean that they'd support Sanders even if they were better informed. It's a weird way answer a political question - "If those people were better informed, they would agree with me on this subject." Unless you're being sarcastic and I'm over reacting.

 

[nixkid]

I wasn't challenging the idea that blacks/Hispanics are less tuned into politics than whites. I have no idea if it's true.

My point was that even if it's true it doesn't mean that they'd support Sanders even if they were better informed. It's a weird way answer a political question - "If those people were better informed, they would agree with me on this subject." Unless you're being sarcastic and I'm over reacting.

I don't think its true. Maybe more politically apathetic or skeptical. I just don't think his message resonates. He's has really only gone after BLM (after all the criticism). He gave them a police reform plan and he pandered by #SayingHerName (in regard to Sandra Bland) but his economic policies remain racially agnostic which has been the Democratic status quo since racially tailored policies have fallen out of favor. I think that the situation facing many blacks is unique and therefore requires unique solutions and he isn't offering any (neither is Clinton but again, she's presumptive). Take his free college proposal. While I think free college education is good policy in general, the reality for many poor blacks is that they will not be able to benefit from it because they went to shitty under performing public schools. Its also less compelling when your college education rewards you with an employment rate similar to that of white high school dropouts.

 

[panamaican]

I don't think its true. Maybe more politically apathetic or skeptical. I just don't think his message resonates. He's has really only gone after BLM (after all the criticism). He gave them a police reform plan and he pandered by #SayingHerName (in regard to Sandra Bland) but his economic policies remain racially agnostic which has been the Democratic status quo since racially tailored policies have fallen out of favor. I think that the situation facing many blacks is unique and therefore requires unique solutions and he isn't offering any (neither is Clinton but again, she's presumptive). Take his free college proposal. While I think free college education is good policy in general, the reality for many poor blacks is that they will not be able to benefit from it because they went to shitty under performing public schools. Its also less compelling when your college education rewards you with an employment rate similar to that of white high school dropouts.

Oh, I agree with you. I don't hear much from Sanders that I think the general black population would find uniquely compelling. Compelling to some? Definitely but uniquely so to the large amount of black voters living in the South? Nope and you've laid it out as well as anyone has.

I just find the dismissive way that "Well, they're just uninformed. If they were informed, rational beings they would overwhelmingly agree with what I agree with," is being tossed around odd. As if informed black voters couldn't reach the conclusion that Hilary is a better choice for them based on her track record with Presidents that they supported.

What about all of the white voters who continue to support Clinton? Are they uninformed, low information voters as well?

 

[Graves The Elder]

because most black voters are still stuck in middle school mentality and hildog represents the kind, white lady assistant principal that they'd
get sent to after setting LaQuisha's hair on fire or 'assidentally' knifing the Miller boy with a pair of scissors or beating the shit out of Mr. Perkins,
the science teacher for disrespecting their heriatages or something and she would make it all right with cookies, hair stroking and an apologetic
call to grandma, who raises them, since both of their deadbeat, crack addicted parents are in the wind.

they love her.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Sanders is actually addressing a lot of stuff that would disproportionately benefit minorities that no other candidate is proposing.
https://berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/
And his bigger objectives like healthcare, education, and infrastructure will all be a huge benefit to minorities.

I agree with nixkid, re: K-12 education, but reforming that is probably close to being as complicated and contentious as healthcare.
Is anybody addressing that?