Candidates zero in on black voters in S. Carolina
The pursuit of African-American support in 2020 will be far more competitive than in 2016 and 2008
McCLELLANVILLE, S.C. — Joe Biden enjoys a sizable advantage with black voters in South Carolina right now, and not just at lunch tables where they discuss candidates over freshly caught shrimp and fried fish. Recent polls have shown him with support from about 50 percent of African American voters in the state.
It is what elevates Biden above his 22 Democratic rivals; though he is often portrayed as a champion of the white working class, he is viewed by many black voters as the play-it-safe choice who could best recreate the multiracial Obama coalition.
But many young black voters are drawn to Elizabeth Warren and her plan to cancel student debt, while others prefer Bernie Sanders and his calls for systemic change. Some black women like Kamala Harris’ leadership style and her personal story as a graduate of Howard University. And some black men are sizing up Cory Booker, who employs the cadences of the black church in his stump speech.
The myriad priorities of black voters in South Carolina and across the nation suggests that, Biden’s current advantage notwithstanding, the pursuit of African American support in 2020 will be far more competitive than in 2016 and 2008. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won more than 80 percent of black votes in the South Carolina primary, and were propelled to the nomination in large part because African Americans in subsequent states mirrored their counterparts here.
In a race with the most diverse field in history, the nominee could be determined by whether black voters stay with Biden, rally around one of the African Americans in the race or split their vote among several candidates. While black voters are expected to account for about 20 percent of the Democratic Party electorate nationwide, they can play an outsize role because of their early influence in South Carolina and their recent history of coalescing around one candidate.
As most of the Democratic candidates descended on South Carolina this weekend, attending a fish fry on Friday night and the state party convention and a Planned Parenthood forum on Saturday, they encountered a black electorate whose interests and allegiances are far more divided than in recent presidential elections.
“The black vote is not monolithic, never has been, but I think our primary will really drive that point home because the vote is going to be fragmented,” said Gilda
Cobb-Hunter, a longtime state legislator.
Two of the leading white candidates, Biden and Warren, evinced more excitement among many black voters than the black candidates, Harris and Booker, suggesting the race here was starting to fracture along the same generational, gender and ideological lines shaping the broader primary.
Thanks to his stature and service as Obama’s vice-president, Biden enjoys an initial advantage with black voters, especially those who are older. But his praise this past week for the civility of a Senate that included two notorious segregationists threatened to loosen his tenuous hold on the top of the polls.
Warren, who has fused her populist message with a focus on racial equity, has started to gain more support in the state, particularly with women and younger black voters. A recent online poll of Democratic voters in the state showed her second among African Americans, albeit well behind Biden, on the strength of her support with voters under 50.
“I like Elizabeth Warren, she’s winning me over,” said Jazz Johnson, 29, a Columbia resident. “Not saying I’m going to vote for her, but I like how she seems to be connecting to a broader group.”
Harris and Booker, the two African Americans in the race, have both spent a considerable amount of time in South Carolina and have aggressively courted the state’s black political and religious leaders.
But Booker has yet to catch fire nationally, which has made it harder for him to draw attention in South Carolina. And while Harris has developed support in the state, there are persistent questions about whether she can appeal to black men. “I know a lot of black women like Kamala,” Johnson said. “But a lot of men don’t.”
While African Americans in South Carolina’s cities are facing similar challenges as in other urban areas, the winning candidate here may prove to be the one who can make the best case to rural black voters.
“When you’re in the rural parts, you know the parts with one traffic light, that’s where the crisis is,” said Danielle Richardson, a 44-year-old from Charleston. “They’ve lost resources and we need a president who goes there and knows that.”