Clinton, Sanders and black support

[Rookie Yinzer]

These videos would provide some insight:

https://youtu.be/Gy_FqMuehjQ

https://youtu.be/sJkSpJF5l3c

Long story short---- she was the wife of a popular Democratic president (who was affectionately called "the first black president" before Obama) running against an unknown from 99% white Vermont, served faithfully under Obama, she had a "name brand" to run on. Black voters are loyal, they only broke away from her in 2008 when Obama's campaign began to look robust and legitimate.

ETA: I spoke with some elderly black voters when I did phone banking to notify them of the primary election date that didn't even know she had an opponent. LOL.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Interesting post NOVA, just pulling this theory out of my head, but I did begin to think about why Sanders did better in the mid-west and on the West Coast in relation to black voters.

Obviously younger voters broke for Bernie because they have never really been in the position to be pragmatic over a presidential candidate. Many of them had never cast a ballot or had enthusiastically supported Obama and he won both times, so they never felt they needed to compromise their values over something like name recognition or electability.

But as far as blacks 35+, could it be that blacks have been apart of the political process longer in areas like Detroit, Chicago, etc for decades even before the VRA was signed black communities wielded some political sway and were actively courted by big city bosses and politicans.

And out west, they reside in states that typically elect Democratic governors or go for the Democratic nominee for President. So residing in Safe D states they felt or were more acclimated to be a little more free to vote based on things like policy rather than electability.

Black voters in the South for the past 40 years have been governed under Moderate blue dog Dems who have had to tow a fine line between their black electorate and the ancestral Conservative white Dems or Republicans who outright do not care about their black constituencies. Maybe a vote for Hillary was seen as a necessity because even if Sanders' message spoke to them they cherished their current progress under Obama (I'm sure many would debate the definition of progress) and did not want to waste it on a "pipe dream" and would rather hold the place they are in rather than have the clock rolled back.  They made the decision of choosing someone safe and stable over something new, unproven, and radical. Just a thought! This was really a word salad in my head. LOL.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Bernie couldn't have done that bad with blacks in the most diverse city in the country, Oakland, since he did win it. Meanwhile Hillary landslided the mostly white Piedmont that it surrounds.

What? LOL.