Anger At Bush May Boost Turnout Among Black Voters.

• Originally published in The Frontrunner September 24, 2004

Copyright 2004 Bulletin News Network, Inc.

Reuters (9/24, Whitesides) reports, "Black voters, the most loyal of Democrats, turned out overwhelmingly against President Bush in 2000 and say things have gotten worse since, with anger building over the Iraq war, disappearing jobs, crumbling city schools and high health care costs." The "mood of black voters, and how many turn out in November, could help decide the White House race between Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry. While blacks cast less than 12 percent of the vote in 2000, they could be a deciding factor in swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio." Bush "earned only 9 percent of the black vote in 2000, the worst performance by a Republican presidential candidate since Barry Goldwater in 1964. Since then, black unemployment has climbed to 10 percent nationally and higher in many cities, tax cuts have gone primarily to higher-income earners and ballooning budget deficits have put the squeeze on city schools and services." Recent Gallup polls "found 83 percent of blacks were dissatisfied with the way things were going in the United States and 76 percent opposed the war in Iraq." David Bositis, "an analyst of black politics for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies," said, "There is great anger and motivation, and I sense black turnout is going to be good. This is somebody African-Americans did not want to begin with, and in terms of economics and jobs African-Americans have done poorly under Bush."

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