OBAMA FOR USA

Charles Bailey, an African American voter and long-time Democratic supporter, wants President Barack Obama to know he's angry. He's 70, but he can't afford to retire on his Social Security checks.

Bailey, a home improvement contractor, says jobs in his field are scarce in this university town, of Charlottesville, Virginia -- once home to two US presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.

"I'm just barely getting by. I voted for him not because he's black but because he was for change," said Bailey. "That's the change? I want to work. I get so emotional. They don't understand how I feel."

It's that kind of mood among black voters -- traditionally Democratic supporters -- that is making Obama and his party nervous about the mid-term congressional election on November 2.

They expect to lose seats in the House and Senate, but are battling to maintain control of Congress.

In key races across the country African Americans can stop the bleeding, experts say, if they turn out and vote in large numbers like in 2008 when America made history and elected its first black president.

And in a bid to woo voters, the Democratic National Committee is spending three million dollars on advertisements in African American media -- the highest such spending ever for a mid-term election.

"In Virginia it would be very difficult today for the president, if he were on the ballot in November, to be elected," said Douglas Wilder, who made history in 1990 when he became America's first black elected governor, in Virginia. "The excitement is not there and the exuberance is not there."

Obama, who campaigned on a theme of "change" two years ago, is holding rallies around the country asking voters to support Democrats, and insisting change "doesn't happen overnight."

Congressman Tom Perriello is one of the Democrats who came to power with Obama. He defeated the Republican incumbent by just 727 votes in Virginia's rural 5th Congressional District. But today Republican challenger Robert Hurt is considered likely to unseat Perriello.

One of the voting blocs that can save Perriello is the black vote, observers say.

"In a lot of close races, the degree of black turnout and the extent to which they support Democratic candidates will be one of the key factors," said Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, which conducts polls for Democrats.

Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The surging black vote comprised 20 percent of the state turnout, but the percentage slipped to 16 percent in the gubernatorial election in 2009, and the result was a Republican victory.

"Democratic candidates are significantly underperforming with black voters," said Jensen, citing polls showing black support at 65-to-70 percent, whereas it's usually 90 to 95 percent.

"Just because you love Barack Obama doesn't necessarily mean you're inspired by Democratic candidates."

Enter Perriello, who recently held a "fish fry" campaign event in a predominantly black neighborhood here.

"I need a little more time, and President Obama needs a little more time," he told about 300 people. "We need more time to keep undoing all the mistakes that got us into this mess in the first place."

Republicans are busy tapping into voter frustration, arguing among other things that the latest unemployment figure -- 9.6 percent -- is proof Democrats are failing.

But Bailey, who lost his home to foreclosure, said he'll continue to support the Democrats, although his endorsement was hardly ringing. "I'll take my chances with Tom," he said.

Alvin Edwards, pastor at Mount Zion First African Baptist Church, said there are a lot of people in Bailey's situation, and statistics show African Americans have taken the hardest hit in the biting US economic downturn.

In the past two years, Edwards has seen requests for aid from parishioners soar, so much so that he has set a limit of 100 dollar per person for rent.

"We used to just pay whatever. Now, that's changed because we help more people," Edwards said. "People are getting laid off. People are hurting.

"I've heard people say they wanted a quicker fix to the problems created by the Bush administration. We're quick to forget how these problems came about. That seems to have escaped voters."

Last week at Bowie State University, a historically black school in Maryland, Obama sought to rally supporters, saying the 2008 White House campaign had "made each of you shareholders in the mission of rebuilding our country and reclaiming our future."

"I'm back today, two years later, because the success of that mission is at stake. We've got a lot at stake right now. On November 2nd, I'm going to need you just as fired up as you were in 2008."

And he has insisted that it is up to Democrats -- of any color -- to get out and vote on Election Day.

"The single biggest threat to our success is not the other party. It's us. It's complacency. It's apathy. It's indifference."

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Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Obama battles to shore up support among black voters

OBAMA FOR USA

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