Clinton Scrambles as Sanders Puts the Black Vote in Play

[Purveyor]

Not so long ago, South Carolina and Nevada, with their large numbers of African-American and Latino voters, were seen as Hillary Clinton’s “firewall” to prevent Bernie Sanders’ campaign from sweeping across the country.

Polls repeatedly showed that Clinton would run well in those two states, and benefit from the long-standing bonds that she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, forged with blacks and other minorities. But in the wake of Sanders’ dazzling 22-point victory over Clinton in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, all bets are off.

Instead, Clinton may have to scratch and scramble to preserve her base in South Carolina and Nevada, and her campaign takes those states for granted at its peril. The influence of the minority vote in those states is hard to overstate. During the 2008 campaign, 57 percent of the electorate in South Carolina was black, while 30 percent of the electorate in Nevada was black or Hispanic, according to exit polls.

Sanders, the democratic socialist senator from predominantly white Vermont, has proven himself to be a brilliant campaign strategist, fundraiser and all-around opportunist. Already there are reports that he has been flooding the zone in the South Carolina and Nevada with paid campaign staffers and door-knockers and has begun to lock in endorsements from prominent African Americans, including former NAACP chief Ben Jealous, actor Danny Glover and singer and activist Harry Belafonte.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-scrambles-sanders-puts-black-194900380.html

[Purveyor]

1. Young Blacks More Open To Bernie Sanders' White House Bid

By Emily Stephenson

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (Reuters) - If Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders has a chance of drawing African-American voters away from rival Hillary Clinton in South Carolina's presidential nominating contest on Feb. 27, his best opportunity will be among the young.

African Americans support former Secretary of State Clinton by more than a 3-to-1 margin nationwide, but among young blacks 18 to 29 years old, that margin shrinks to 46 percent for Clinton versus 33 percent for Sanders, according to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling.

African Americans overwhelmingly back Democrats, but opinion polls in the run-up to the Nov. 8 presidential election show younger blacks more apt to reject an establishment candidate. They seem less inclined than their parents to reward Clinton for the outreach of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and more drawn to Sanders’ outspoken views on reducing income inequality, cracking down on Wall Street, and cutting the cost of college.

Reuters/Ipsos polling last year showed that 36 percent of blacks between 18 and 29 years old thought the country was on the “wrong track,” compared with 23 percent of blacks who were at least 60 years old.

For Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who describes himself as a democratic socialist, this trend could help him chip away at Clinton's firewall of minority voters in the southern states, after his strong showings against her - especially among the young - in the early Democratic Party contests of Iowa and New Hampshire, both more than 90 percent white.

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http://news.yahoo.com/young-blacks-more-open-bernie-sanders-white-house-180417919.html

[Ron Green]

2. I'm happy to be the first rec for this encouraging piece.

It's easy to lose a little hope in the face of the nasty and fearful campaign from "the Empire."

[840high]

3. K/R