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African-Americans
How will the nation’s first ever African-American presidential candidate, Barack Obama, affect the participation of black voters in 2008? Everyone expects registration levels to go up and turnout to be at an historic high. But don’t assume that’s just because there’s a black and biracial candidate in the race. In fact, more than three in four voters of all ethnic groups -- including African-Americans -- say race is not a factor in determining their vote.** Instead, people of all races are getting excited about this year’s election as a chance to make positive progress on the big issues.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties know that black voters are key if they want to win by a big percentage in this year’s national elections. That means they’ll have to connect with African-American voters on the issues they care most about: healthcare, the war in Iraq, and unemployment. In the 2004 national election, 74% of black voters identified with the Democratic party and that’s not expected to change dramatically this year.
Here’s another piece of good news: young African-American voters have been playing an especially important role in recent elections. In 2004, much of the voter participation jump among 18 to 24-year-olds was because of an increase in voting among African-American youth, which was 11% more than it was in 2000. That should increase this year as well!
If you want to learn more about African-American voters and civic involvement, visit:
The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
www.ncbcp.org
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