May 1, 2019--Black Women

How sadly ironic that the spouse of our first black president and the first women to secure the nomination of a major political party lost the election because black women did not turn out in traditional numbers to vote for her.

The "her," of course, is Hillary Clinton and the "first back president," designated as such by Toni Morrison, is Bill Clinton.

So, if Joe Biden is to have a chance to win, especially in the hotly contested Electoral-College-rich Midwestern states--Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan--he needs to do better with black women.

Initially in the primaries and then, if he is nominated, in the general election.

It is very early to make responsible predictions but since this is a critical issue, following the lead of the New York Times, which published an article Monday about how well Biden might do with African-American voters in these swing states, here are a few observations--

The Times dispatched a reporter to Pennsylvania, where there are many minorities, to get a sense of how Biden is faring with black voters.

Supported by recent polling data, it seems quite well.

At Bobbie's Coffee & Books in Germantown, when talk turned to politics, patrons said that Biden was either at or near the top of their list, mainly because of his partnership with Obama. 

Clara Walker, a small-business owner, said that Biden would have her vote "just for assisting Barack."

This was a common theme--Biden's support for Obama's agenda and how his presence and assistance contributed significantly to Obama's success.

Kerry Chester, a network engineer, said, "I'm going to be completely honest: I think with the country going the way it is, I think we're kind of safer on the Democratic side going with a white man right now."

Working class white folks said much the same thing--

For example, Kevin Frantz, a retried firefighter, said, "I like his sincerity, his personality, his experience. I think he cares."

No wonder worried Trump sent out a stream of nasty tweets about Biden as he made his way successfully across his home state.

One further thought about Biden's appeal to black voters--

In most work situations African Americans report to white people. But in Obama's White House, white workers, beginning with Biden, reported to a black man--the president.

Biden was known to have had nothing but fondness and respect for Obama and was as loyal a second banana as a vice president has ever been. This has been widely noticed among African Americans and contributes in uncountable ways to his rapport with the former president and through that relationship to black voters.

We will learn more as the campaigns develop, but at this early stage it appears that Biden will not have a Hillary problem.