Votes of dissatisfaction
Few blacks intend to pick Trump, but are hardly ‘fired up’ for Clinton
Edward Johnson is terrified at the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency. The billionaire businessman’s campaign has an energy of hate and domination, the 21-year-old says, especially toward minorities.
He scoffed at Trump’s recent question for black voters: “What do you have to lose?”
“What do we have to lose?” the Texas Southern University junior responded. “Everything and more.”
National polls show that upward of 4 out of 5 black voters support Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump. Many cite the Republican presidential nominee’s inflammatory comments about women and minorities, as well as his law-and-order campaign theme launched against the backdrop of police shootings of black men. Then there was his widely panned shout-out to a black supporter last spring, “Look at my African American over here.”
But interviews with black voters in the Houston area suggest that while few intend to pull the lever for Trump, they’re hardly “fired up” and “ready to go” for Hillary as they were for Barack Obama, the nation’s first AfricanAmerican president. And though Bill Clinton’s appeal to black vot-
“The debates weren’t even for the people — they were just insulting each other. I didn’t hear what I wanted (to) hear about what they would do about education and the economy.”
Val Taylor, 59
ers earned him the moniker of “first black president,” his wife doesn’t appear to generate the same enthusiasm in a campaign that has been more about personalities than issues like poverty and education.
“I’m disgusted with the whole thing,” said Val Taylor, 59, as she waited in line at an early voting location in Houston. “The debates weren’t even for the people — they were just insulting each other. I didn’t hear what I wanted (to) hear about what they would do about education and the economy.”
She’s particularly concerned about education because of her special-needs grandson. Another main concern is addressing police brutality and improving relations between law enforcement and the communities they serve. She said she planned to vote for Clinton but was more interested in local races.
More black voters undecided in Texas
While polls show that black voters nationwide overwhelmingly support Clinton, those in Texas seem somewhat more conflicted. A University of Houston/Rice University poll released this month found that more than 17 percent of black voters in Texas were undecided, compared with about 8 percent of undecided black voters nationally.
The poll showed that about 73 percent of black voters planned to vote for Clinton, compared with 3 percent for Trump. None said they would vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and less than 2 percent backed the Green Party’s Jill Stein. Meanwhile, an ABC News poll released Sunday found that 82 percent of black voters nationally said they would vote for Clinton, versus just 3 percent for Trump.
The Republican nominee argues that he’s doing well with people of color, who he says have borne the brunt of the weak economy. “The Democrats have taken advantage of AfricanAmericans,” he told Fox News. “We will rebuild our cities and provide safety and peace to all of our citizens.”
Those arguments, however, appear to have done little to win over black voters in the Houston area.
Jessica and Jenessa Hardin said they planned to vote for Clinton, but the Texas Southern University students say they are mainly motivated by their opposition to Trump. The 21-year-old twins say his bombastic demeanor and comments about black people scare them.
In this year’s Democratic primary, both voted for Bernie Sanders, the liberal Vermont senator who was runner-up to Clinton. Neither is enthusiastic about voting for Clinton, but Jenessa Hardin said, “A Clinton presidency will be less tense than Trump. And in two years, we can elect people in the House and Senate who can challenge her agenda” from the left.
Turnout could affect down-ballot races
Michael Adams, a professor of political science and interim dean of TSU’s College of Public Policy, said voter uncertainty in the 2016 presidential election may stem from dissatisfaction.
“The millennials who are African-American were certainly big on Bernie Sanders” during the primaries, Adams said. “There has been some indication turnout could be lower (among African-American millennials) because people are not buying into the Clinton campaign.”
Adams said the 2016 presidential election begs the question: How much will black voter turnout fall off without Obama on the ballot?
Obama’s candidacies in 2008 and 2012 galvanized black voters. In fact, 2012 was the first time that nationwide black turnout — or the percentage of eligible voters who cast ballots — in presidential elections exceeded white turnout, according to a 2013 Census report. About 66.2 percent of eligible black voters cast ballots in that election, versus about 64.1 percent of eligible white voters.
Obama’s candidacy and the enthusiasm it created among the African-American community helped propel down-ballot Democrats to victory, Adams said. He said a high black voter turnout could boost local and state candidates in Texas this year, but he said he expects to see some ticket splitting as well.
“There will be a lot of (straight) ticket voters, but I think a lot of voters would consider voting for a moderate like Ed Emmett for example,” Adams said, referring to the Harris County judge, a Republican. “Voters might say, ‘I know him, he’s not a bad guy.’”
But Louis Butler, 18, said it’s hard to learn about down-ballot races when the latest exchanges in the heated presidential race grab the headlines.
“I don’t even know much about the running mates,” Butler said as he sat outside Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday. “It’s hard to pay attention to anything else with those two running. They’re so controversial that it takes attention away from everything else.”
Key issues, including poverty, not discussed
Other black voters agreed, angry with the lack of serious discussion about issues such as economic equality and policing.
For 49-year-old Walter Robinson, raising the minimum wage and creating more pathways out of poverty are the most important issues.
He said it’s nearly impossible for people to make ends meet with Texas’ minimum age of $7.25 an hour.
“I hope in a year’s time, no matter who is president, that they’ll raise the minimum wage,” Robinson said. “Poverty to me is like quicksand. The world is based on money, and it’s so hard to make it out (of poverty) because bills like rent just keep putting you further back.”
Robinson said he will vote for Clinton and other Democratic candidates. But he’s not overly concerned about what will happen if Trump is elected.
“If she doesn’t win, the world goes on,” Robinson said. “We survived Bush and Reagan.”
Other black voters were eager to cast their ballots.
About 57 people, most of whom were black, were in line when the doors of the Palm Center polling site in the South Third Ward opened for early voting at 8 a.m. Monday.
Cean Cotton, 44, was the first in line at about 7:20 a.m. He said he was excited to vote for Clinton.
“I try not to listen to the media because they make her seem not as trustworthy as Trump, which is ridiculous,” Cotton said. He said “many things have changed for the better in Obama’s presidency, and I think she can continue that work.”
When a Chronicle reporter asked if anyone in line planned to vote for Trump, many laughed. None said they would vote for the Republican.
Attitudes were similar at TSU’s campus on Friday, as students and staff members prepared for Homecoming weekend. TSU is one of nine historically black colleges and universities across Texas.
Opinions about Trump may harm state GOP
Both Nikia Branch-Minix, 18, and Demitric Hamm, 19, said they voted for Sanders in the Democratic primary, inspired by his position to institute free tuition at public colleges and universities, among other things.
Hamm said he’s upset about what he views as Trump’s generalizations about people of color living in inner cities surrounded by crime and with little education.
“He automatically assumes all black people act and think the same,” Hamm said. “He wants us to be statistics, but he needs to talk to us and see what we’re all about.”
Hamm and Branch-Minix also worry about the volatile Trump serving as commander in chief and potentially starting conflicts abroad.
“My boyfriend is in the military, so I’m very worried about what could happen,” Branch-Minix said.
Johnson is concerned that if Trump were elected, the African-American community would lose gains made under Obama.
“I believe he can wage a war and make life for people of color even worse,” Johnson said. “America was always great for white people, but this is the best America has been for black people.”
Such strong, negative opinions about Trump will cast a shadow after the election, Adams said. But how long that shadow will stretch is yet to be seen.
“The polarizing affect of Donald Trump has provided Secretary Clinton with something she may have lacked: A motivator for black turnout,” Adams said. “While reaching 2008 levels may be difficult, there’s a strong indication we’ll still see very strong turnout in the black community both locally and nationally.”
Although one poll shows Trump leading Clinton by just 3 percentage points, Adam doubts that even a strong black voter turnout in Texas will move the state into the Democratic column this year.
And yet, Adams said, Trump’s alienation of different groups could have long-term repercussions for the GOP in Texas.
“We may be seeing a realignment, that shifting in party allegiance away from the Republican Party,” Adams said. “Maybe not this election, but down the road, if we see this alienation continue, then certainly that could come to fruition.”