Commentary: Barack Obama's black wakeup call - CNN.com: "If the advisers around Sen. Barack Obama want to continue to delude themselves into thinking they have lots of time for black voters to get around to figuring out their candidate's record on issues they care about, then the latest CNN poll surely must be the kind of slap in the face to bring them back to reality."
According to the CNN poll, Clinton leads Obama among black registered Democrats, 57 percent to 33 percent. Black women are backing Clinton to the tune of 68 percent compared with 25 percent for Obama. Black men favor Obama 46 percent to 42 percent for Clinton. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 6.5 percent.
On multiple occasions when I've interviewed him, Obama has reassured folks that his track record speaks for itself. He says with Clinton being on the national stage for 15 years, she has longevity. But he said he's confident black voters will come around the more they know about what he has done. That's nice and sounds good, but what the Obama campaign has clearly refused to recognize is that black voters are emotional, and you must speak to their core in order to reach them.
Obama has at times spoken passionately about issues blacks care about -- the war, education, civil rights, social justice issues -- but all too often he has avoided engaging in a way that touches the consciousness of black voters. Voters have told me that he's sometimes sterile and not offering the kind of passion they desire.
But there are other reasons why black voters have been ambivalent about an Obama candidacy, and it's clearly having an affect on him being able to build momentum to challenge Clinton.
Read the rest of the commentary by clicking the link. It's a good read and I really like Roland Martin.
According to the CNN poll, Clinton leads Obama among black registered Democrats, 57 percent to 33 percent. Black women are backing Clinton to the tune of 68 percent compared with 25 percent for Obama. Black men favor Obama 46 percent to 42 percent for Clinton. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 6.5 percent.
On multiple occasions when I've interviewed him, Obama has reassured folks that his track record speaks for itself. He says with Clinton being on the national stage for 15 years, she has longevity. But he said he's confident black voters will come around the more they know about what he has done. That's nice and sounds good, but what the Obama campaign has clearly refused to recognize is that black voters are emotional, and you must speak to their core in order to reach them.
Obama has at times spoken passionately about issues blacks care about -- the war, education, civil rights, social justice issues -- but all too often he has avoided engaging in a way that touches the consciousness of black voters. Voters have told me that he's sometimes sterile and not offering the kind of passion they desire.
But there are other reasons why black voters have been ambivalent about an Obama candidacy, and it's clearly having an affect on him being able to build momentum to challenge Clinton.
Read the rest of the commentary by clicking the link. It's a good read and I really like Roland Martin.
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