The South Carolina primary was to
be a test of black vote for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders – and the
black vote lost. Despite Hillary
Clinton’s commanding win in South Carolina with record turnout from black
voters, the 2016 election cycle is slowly shaping up to be yet another lost opportunity
– another disappointment. Exit poll data shows blacks made up 61% of the electorate,
voted for Clinton 84%-16% while 82% came from black men and 89% from black
women.
There continues to be an
obsession with the black vote by the Democratic Party as black voters still have yet to realize the magnitude of their vote. The exit data shows a lock
step approach largely driven by whether Hillary Clinton is “electable” or if
she’s the “lessor of two evils”. An
approach that sidelines the black voter unable to build any leverage. So what goes unnoticed is the spectacle the
2016 primaries have become that’s largely driven by two critical issues for the
black voter. The very public display of
Clinton’s naked pursuit of the black vote on one hand and on the other hand, a
base of black voters whose allegiance to the Clinton campaign shows no signs of
eroding.
