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Clinton's Vital Minority
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10422 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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2 / 1993 |
2,275 Words |
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Milton D. Morris
Milton D. Marris is vice president for research at the Joint
Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. |
Bill Clinton's stunning victory over incumbent President George Bush is remarkable in several respects, one of them being the role African Americans played in bringing it about. Although Clinton's campaign seemed to be defying popular assumptions about how to win the black vote (frequent assertions that he was ignoring black voters) and conventional wisdom about how to handle race issues in the campaign, blacks provide to be a vital force in the Party and in Clinton's victory on November 3.
Black voters were also vital to Clinton's success in the grueling presidential primaries. In virtually every primary race after New Hamphire, black voters provided substantial support for Clinton. According to a report prepared by David Bositis of the Joint Center of Political and Economic Studies:
After finishing second in the New Hamphire primaries, Clinton needed a strong showing in Georgia and, a week later, in other Southern Super Tuesday states. African-American voters in these states gave Clinton enough momentum to push through to Illinois and Michigan in mid-March, where he virtually locked up the nomination. Had black voters in Illinois and in the South cast their ballots instead for Clinton's more liberal opponent, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, or had an African-American candidate joined in the race, the Democratic nomination picture might well have looked different.
When the Democratic National Convention opened in New York City on July 14, blacks were prominent in Clinton's campaign and in what was perhaps the most effective Democratic campaign ever, the convention was hosted by a friendly black mayor, directed by a highly black national party chairman, and managed by a black coordinator. Moreover, 60 percent of the black delegates were committed to Clinton and another 16 percent, though officially unpledged, were leaning towards Clinton as well.
Black voters further bolstered the Democratic Party's control of the House of Representatives by electing black Democratic candidates from 13 new congressional districts. It is not surprising, then, that African Americans look to the new administration with considerable optimism and expectations.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN TURNOUT
Most indications are that about one million more blacks voted in 1992 than did in 1988, thereby raising voter turnout by several percentage points higher over the pervious presidential
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