Standing with Barack ... From true believers to those who see imperfect president, support runs deep

By Richard B. Muhammad -Editor- | Last updated: Sep 11, 2012 - 6:20:26 PM

President Barack Obama waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign event at Kissimmee Civic Center, Sept. 8, in Kissimmee, Fla. Photo: AP Wide World Photos/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The day after Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech to Democratic Party delegates and the country there was bad news for Black America: Unemployment was up and had hit just over eight percent officially.

Yet neither bad jobs numbers nor even dissatisfaction will stop Black support for reelection of the first Black president. A combination of racial pride, continued hope, improved circumstances, and political pragmatism means Mr. Obama can count on Black voters as he drives toward Nov. 6 elections. His overall poll numbers were also climbing after the convention.

How many voters turn out and where, however, are still open questions crucial to his success or failure.

Poll numbers reported Sept. 10 by CNN were good news for the Obama campaign. The president held a one point lead over Mitt Romney among likely male voters and a 10 point lead over the Republican when asked who was most in touch with voters.

Enthusiasm was high at the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Obama came out of the Sept. 4-6 gathering with a party solidly united behind him and a successful, spirited and well-scripted convention.

Denise Bolds isn’t backing President Obama solely based on sentiment. “Four years ago my home was repossessed. I lost my job and I was getting ready to put my son in college, so things have really turned around and changed now,” she said. The 48-year-old resident of Beacon, N.Y., is working, her son has gone on to grad school and she didn’t have to shell out a co-pay for a mammogram and pap exam.

“I want to keep the momentum going,” she said.

“The president has done things he said he would do, not everything, but he is trying to make things more equal for everybody,” said Mark Cannady, who came to the convention with his wife Tina and their daughter Imani from Northern Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. Mr. Cannady was an alternative delegate for the 11th Congressional District.

Mark Cannady with wife Tina and daughter Imani at Democratic convention 2012. Photos: Richard B. Muhammad

Everyone may not agree with everything he does, but the president has created jobs and is trying to help the middle class, said the Black father and husband. “If we can get the president back into the White House, there’s even more things that can be completed and done that’s going to make this a better situation for 2012 and beyond,” he said.

“There’s so much at stake as we can see from this Congress of ‘no,’ that’s obstructed so many of the plans and policies the president has tried to put forward,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, as she stood in the corridor of the packed Time Warner Arena.

The president has pushed increased aid for students, easier terms for repaying student loans and the Obamas’ struggled with education debt, she said. “There is really no comparison between Obama and Mitt Romney, who has no understanding of what students go through every day,” she said.

Though the race between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney is close, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sept. 8 found Mr. Obama enjoying a four percentage point lead. An online survey found 47 percent of 1,457 likely voters “over the previous four days said they would vote for Obama if the Nov. 6 elections were held today, compared with 43 percent for Romney,” Reuters reported. A Gallup poll found the president had an even higher lead.

However, what matters is voter mobilization. “I think the main thing will be the turnout, people will stay at home and the people that stay at home will be the margin of victory for one or the other,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, Democrat from Virginia, in an interview on the convention floor. Education, Supreme Court appointments and health care are at stake, he said. “These decisions will be made by voters on Nov. 6,” he said.

“While there is little question about the direction of the Black vote this November, the size of Black turnout will be important in determining the outcome of the election,” said the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“Several of the states that President Obama won in 2008 that now appear to be likely to be more competitive have significant Black populations, including the key states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. The Black vote is also important in a few of the states that Senator Kerry won in 2004, such as, Michigan and Pennsylvania,” the center added.

“When we hear these figures about it being close, I don’t doubt that it might be,” said Cliff Kelley, radio host of WVON-AM in Chicago, who broadcast live from the convention. In reality, there are 50 elections, one in each state, and “turnout is the greatest enemy to them (Republicans) which is why they are going through these voter suppression laws,” he said. “In many states they know the African American vote can make a difference,” he said. But the GOP is trying to curb voting among Blacks and the elderly, said Mr. Kelley.

“We know certain politicians stated early on in President Obama’s administration that their major concern, their major objective, was to make him a one term president, and even said it publically. And they wanted to make sure that he failed not withstanding his failure would wreck the country,” said Mr. Kelley. Former President Bill Clinton admitted no president could have done any better with the country’s economic mess, he added.

“A lot of that is out and out racism,” Mr. Kelley said.

The choice is between a country club president, who thinks the rich don’t have enough and the poor have too much or a more inclusive society, said Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. “They (Republicans) screwed up this country so badly economically and other ways that it is going to take more than four years to straighten it out,” he said.

“If you don’t vote somebody will and they will set it up the way that they want it, if you don’t like it that way you better show up,” said the Muslim lawmaker.

Rep. Ellison said in his 5th Congressional District 350,000 people have been called and only 500,000 residents are adults.

He conceded race remains a problem evidenced by the use of former President Clinton, who delivered a Sept. 5 nomination speech and appeal to White male voters. “The attitudes that Obama is encountering are generationally entrenched and are not going to just melt away because Obama is the president,” he said. “You can’t always operate in the world you wish you had, you got to operate in the world you do have, and the world we do have has at least one segment of our population which finds it very difficult to accept even the best of gifts if they are not in the right packaging.”

Still, said Rep. Ellison, attitudes can change and if President Clinton can woe working class White males fine. “This demographic group is basically being convinced to vote against their own best interest based on factors that don’t really matter,” he said.

In interviews with The Final Call, delegates and guests at the Time Warner Cable Arena said they were deeply touched by the president’s vision and the party ideal that everyone matters and diversity is good.

From state Black legislators in Georgia and North Carolina, to a White female supporter from Guam to a 21-year-old Sikh woman, who was a delegate from San Francisco, optimism was high. Though energy was high and delegates hyped, the GOP spin machine has continued to attack the president, saying he has failed to revive the economy.

Ali Velshi, in a CNN examination of the economy and promises from Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, said both men need to offer more specifics about job creation strategies and the right question needs to be asked. The “are you better off today than you were four years ago” question is a great line but is the wrong question, he said.

The real question is are Americans better off than they would have been if the country had plunged into the financial abyss early on in the Obama administration, argued Mr. Velshi in a Sept. 8 edition of “Your Money” on CNN.

“Four years ago the entire economy was on the verge of crumbling and we are in a new economy today,” he said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, says reelecting the president is the important task at hand. He doesn’t feel holding him accountable in a second term is wrong. “Politics is a contact sport and the president has to understand that those people who went the last mile with him deserve consideration. Just because he is who he is doesn’t negate people from talking to him, disagreeing with him,” he said.

But, Rep. Thompson added, “For those naysayers, if they stay at home and somehow Romney gets elected they will pay for it.”

“It’s time to throw out the government altogether right now, they stole our money, they should be in Guantanamo Bay right now for it,” said Curtis Hunt, Jr., a 27-year-old Black male from St Petersburg, Fla., who joined the Occupy the DNC Movement in protests at the convention. “I don’t feel sorry for anybody that could steal $3 trillion and give us a quote, unquote Black president,” he said.

“It seems like the Democratic Party has been bought out and is showing their colors now,” he continued. But, Mr. Hunt added, now is not the time to oppose the president because many people don’t see the tricks in politics and the GOP is worse. Mr. Obama is still an important symbol though some of his policies are incorrect, added the young man, who described himself as a Black Panther, urban militant who lives on the street. He is also with the Poor People’s Economic and Human Rights Campaign.

“Really I believe that politics and just everyone that’s involved is corrupt,” said Zaki Raheem Smith. No one cares about the poor or struggling people and there isn’t any appreciation for the poor who at the base of society, said the Black male from New Jersey, who also joined the Occupy the DNC movement and camp.

He is so disillusioned with politics, voting is not an option. But he plans to work for the reelection of the president. Still if Mr. Obama won’t do anything for his people, and poor people, than past movements are in vain, he added. “No one really, really worries about the lower realm of society.”

Black Caucus backs Obama, Black vote critical for success (FCN, 09-11-2012)

Style and substance: Michelle Obama speaks and shines (FCN, 09-11-2012)

The Final Call