Counting on Black
Historically Black colleges offer symbolic venue for candidates wanting to connect with Black voters
By Ronald Roach
The push for a connection between Black American voters and the campaigns of Democratic Party presidential candidates reached a symbolic high in September when the contenders squared off in a nationally televised debate on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Inside the elegant Gilliam Concert Hall at the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center on the historically Black campus, the nine candidates who had active campaigns at the time sparred verbally among each other as they answered questions from Farai Chideya, Juan Williams and Ed Gordon, three nationally prominent Black journalists. The debate was a first on several levels: It received sponsorship from the Congressional Black Caucus, and it was the first such event to be held at a historically Black college. A second debate sponsored by the CBC was held later in Detroit.
The Democratic candidates’ efforts to connect with not just Black voters, but younger Black voters, didn’t stop at Morgan State, but continued south to the campuses of historically Black schools in South Carolina such as Benedict College, South Carolina State University and Claflin University. Black campuses have offered a richly symbolic venue for candidates wanting to connect with Blacks, who are estimated to comprise about 50 percent of the Democratic vote in South Carolina. The campuses have been frequented by Democratic presidential contenders seeking victory in what will be the first primary in a southern state on Feb. 3.
At Benedict College, for example, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, officially announced her candidacy; Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry met with a group of 50 students and talked about issues with them; and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman touted his higher education proposals during a campus visit. In addition, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, as well as Lieberman, Moseley Braun and the Rev. Al Sharpton have all visited historically Black Howard University in the nation’s capital.
“The African American vote is going to be just critical. When (candidates) can visit a historically Black college, they can make a much more symbolic significance,” according to Dr. Scott Huffmon, a professor of American government, southern politics, political psychology, voting and behavior at Winthrop University, adding that as of mid-November he had yet to attract any of the candidates to speak at predominantly White Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.
Whether presidential debates in predominantly Black environments and frequent visits by candidates to Black colleges will translate into a high voter turnout by Black voters remains to be seen. Yet, in the few weeks leading up to the start of the 2004 presidential primaries, the Democratic field seems to be paying significant attention to Black voters. Such efforts by Democrats also bring to mind their need to reverse what is considered a strained relationship between the party and its Black voter base, a condition that is brought up frequently by Sharpton and sometimes mentioned by the other candidates.
In public debates, Sharpton has accused the Democratic party of taking the Black vote for granted and deserting its progressive liberal political base in pursuit of a more conservative posture. Analysts say the Democratic Party’s struggle to appeal to a minority base among Blacks and Latinos as well as to working-class and suburban middle-class Whites is defining the character of the Democratic campaign. Black voters, especially younger Blacks who populate college campuses, are listening closely to the messages of the Democratic candidates to determine whether they go beyond the symbolism of Black college campus visits, according to observers.
“The Black electorate is really searching for someone who can speak to their concerns,” says Dr. Kathie Stromile-Golden, director of the Delta Research and Cultural Institute at historically Black Mississippi Valley State University.
The Early Running
Blacks are a key constituency of the Democratic Party. They have typically represented between 20 percent and 25 percent of the national Democratic vote in presidential election years, according to Dr. Ronald Walters, professor of government and politics and director of the African American Leadership Institute, at the University of Maryland-College Park.
Like all voters, Blacks, the most loyal constituency of the Democratic Party, are looking for a winner in the 2004 presidential race. Blacks are “looking for the Democratic candidate who they believe can win” in a general election against President George W. Bush, says Dr. David Covin, professor of government and ethnic studies at California State University-Sacramento.
But “it’s way too early to assess how Black voters are going to react to the candidates,” says Covin.
Dr. Robert Brown, a political scientist and assistant dean at Emory University, says Black voters particularly want to hear candidate stances on employment programs, civil rights, health care, urban development and other social issues. “Black voters are driven less by foreign policy issues than domestic ones,” Brown says, noting that unemployment and other domestic woes tend to disproportionately affect African Americans.
Even as former Vermont governor Howard Dean has vaulted into place as the Democratic frontrunner, there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to whether Black voters will embrace him if he dominates the primaries. Though Dean enjoys support from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D.-Il.), the former governor’s clumsy remarks about wanting to appeal to White guys who have Confederate flags in their pickup trucks struck many observers as insensitive and awkward.
“It’s understandable that Dean wants to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. He was saying that Republicans are perceived as the party of Whites even though they act against the interests of middle- and working-class White voters,” says Samuel Winslow, assistant professor of politics at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.
“But the way he expressed that idea shows that he needs to learn how to do it in language that doesn’t turn off African Americans,” he adds.
Others note that since no contender has emerged as the consensus candidate among Black Democratic voters, Dean has room to develop a stronger relationship with Black voters. “Dean is forging ahead with the support of two unions that have a high percentage of Black members. That means the Black vote is going to be split,” Walters says.
“I’m disenchanted with the candidates. They don’t seem to have the spark and the aggression they will need to challenge the Republicans in November,” says Stromile-Golden, who has worked on progressive political causes.
Ultimately, the biggest danger for Democrats is that Black voters turn out in low numbers in the general election because they are not sufficiently enthusiastic about the eventual Democratic nominee. Due to demographic shifts resulting from a reverse migration of African Americans to the South, experts are saying that Blacks may prove to put Democrats in a more competitive position in the Republican-dominated region.
The bottom line is that “Democrats can’t win without a substantial Black vote,” Covin says, noting that Black votes can prove decisive in close races in Northern and Midwestern states.
