The South Carolina black vote firewall may be a leaky dike
Hillary Clinton assumed that the black vote in South Carolina was hers. It seems the firewall is becoming a leaky dike. MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid is in Columbia, South Carolina. She has been hanging with Bernie Sanders canvassers to get a feel for what is actually happening on the ground.
“We talked to a lot of undecided voters,” Joy Ann Reid said. “They talked to voters who are decided for Bernie. We actually didn’t run into Clinton supporters which is interesting because that is kind of off the polling that we have heard about African Americans voters in the state.”
Reid then played two interviews. One with a young black father. The other with an older black woman.
The young man said that if he were voting today, he would be voting for Bernie Sanders. He said he liked everything that Bernie stands for versus all the other candidates.
Joy Ann Reid said that while many talk about the age gap being sort of determinative for Hillary versus Bernie support, what she found on the ground was interesting. Some older voters may be undecided.
An older black woman said her decision will be based on the younger people. She said she is more concerned about what will help them. She was also concerned with the incarceration of young black men. She said she could work with Social Security. It was evident that in her selflessness she understood that it is our younger generations that are either in dire straits or in financial ruin.
As fear of the unknown is minimized, the wishes of the establishment is becoming more irrelevant. Just like Hillary Clinton’s attempt to preload the race in 2008 failed, it could as well in 2016. The black vote is not monolithic. An ill-advised endorsement by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC disingenuously posing as the totality of the Congressional Black Caucus will not likely ingratiate young black voters to Hillary Clinton.
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