November 28, 2023
Black Voters Still Unsure Of Who To Support As Biden Continues To Plummet In The Polls
One voter said many stood behind Biden because of his choice in running mate in 2020.
Things aren’t looking too great for President Joe Biden in the polls.
In early November 2023, Biden was taking the lead in four out of six swing states, however, support for the president has dropped in all but two states now, Politico reports. Though four times indicted, former President Donald Trump is gaining some traction. Numbers from state-level polls show Trump up by 8 points in Arizona and 5 points in Michigan.
Biden’s decline in support could be a reflection of his response to the war in the Middle East, a decrease in reliable Democratic constituencies (such as young voters), and the rise of independent candidates who are making voters question the candidates on both sides. All these points proved to be a major factors with Black voters—whose support in 2020 elected him to the White House—but things are different now.
The New York Times‘ podcast, The Run-Up, recently hosted a group of Black voters for an episode to discuss the challenges Democrats face ahead of the 2024 election. Host and reporter Astead W. Herndon learned that voters feel Biden has his work cut out for him in finding support; many are disappointed by Democrats in Congress, even during the Obama era.
One voter said many stood behind Biden because of his choice in running mate, now Vice President Kamala Harris, because “she had that pearls-and-gym shoes thing and you saw all women from sororities coming together with their pearls and in their Chucks.” “They were like, ‘Oh, we’ve got someone that looks like us in there,'” she continued, according to Business Insider.
“And they were hoping, like we said with former President Barack Obama … they were expecting her to do so much and we’ve seen nothing. And so now it’s like, ‘Who speaks for us?'”
A Black male voter participating in the conversation said many in Democratic leadership has lost sight of the needs of Black men, while empowering Black women at their expense. He feels the GOP’s entrepreneurship narrative will draw many to Trump’s side.
“I honestly feel that the Democratic Party has forgot about the Black male,” he said. “As African American men, sometimes we get left like our needs, our desires, our wants are not always in account. We kinda get pushed to the side. I think sometimes that might be something that men are looking at … that our needs are not being taken care of. Like our matters are not being resolved.”
The bottom line: both Democrats and Republicans needs to focus and do more.
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