P
PissingOffTheLeft@yahoo.com
Guest
Uppity negroes in South Carolina say NO to the wife of the first black
president (HITLARY STILL HAS A NEGRO PROBLEM)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080117/pl_bloomberg/a6awzanp5m08
Obama's Surging Black Support May Tilt South Carolina Primary Heidi
Przybyla
Thu Jan 17, 12:05 AM ET
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A Barack Obama sticker decorates the bumper of
Helen Quarles's car. It fit neatly over the Hillary Clinton decal
Quarles, a retired auto worker from McCormick, South Carolina,
displayed until recently.
Quarles, a 69-year-old African-American, once was a Clinton volunteer.
Her shift to Obama is part of a trend among black voters that may
cause problems for Clinton, the national front- runner in the
Democratic presidential race.
With South Carolina due to hold its Democratic primary Jan. 26 and
blacks expected to account for 50 percent of party ballots, polls show
Obama now leading Clinton.
Patricia Clark, a 47-year-old administrative assistant from
Charleston, said she has vacillated between Clinton, 60, and the
senator from Illinois and now leans toward Obama. Though ``Hillary's
been there for us,'' she said, ``I'm looking for someone who can make
some changes.''
South Carolina illustrates a broader shift in states with large
concentrations of black Democrats. On Feb. 5, several states with big
black populations, including Georgia and Alabama, where more than 40
percent of Democratic primary voters are black, hold nominating
contests.
Iowa Breakthrough
Obama's triumph in the Iowa caucuses was a catalyst for the change in
sentiment, political analysts say, because it demonstrated he can
garner white support and compete in the general election.
``Now I'm voting my heart, with Obama,'' said Cheryl Ewing, a 47-year-
old program manager from Philadelphia. Only six weeks ago at a focus
group conducted by pollster Peter Hart, Ewing, who is black, said she
was in Clinton camp's because America wouldn't vote for a black
president. ``Iowa made me change my mind.''
National and state polls show a dramatic reversal in support among
African-Americans in recent months. Obama now leads Clinton among
blacks nationwide, 57 percent to 32 percent, according to a Jan. 10-13
USA Today/Gallup poll. Less than two months ago, Clinton was ahead in
the same survey 56 percent to 33 percent.
In state polls, Obama is also beating Clinton among blacks, leading by
23 percentage points in South Carolina, according to the most recent
Rasmussen Reports survey. He's ahead by 38 percentage points among
Maryland blacks and by 39 points in Georgia, according to polls by the
Baltimore Sun and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Blacks remain a minority, so their strong support doesn't guarantee
him a win in those states. The troubling news for Obama's camp is that
he has attracted just 13 percent support from white Democrats in
Georgia.
`First Black President'
Still, the Clinton team a few months ago had been banking on competing
equally with Obama among blacks. Nobel-Prize winning author Toni
Morrison, an African-American, has hailed Clinton's husband, Bill, as
``the first black president.''
In addition to Obama's Iowa win, recent controversies over comments by
Hillary Clinton about the civil-rights era have also benefited Obama.
Clinton said just before the New Hampshire primary that racial
equality was achieved only when Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil
Rights Act. Some blacks interpreted that as slighting the Reverend
Martin Luther King Jr.
Much of Obama's ``rise in the polls has to be attributed to African-
American voters,'' said Steve Benjamin, chairman of the Richland
County, South Carolina, Democratic Party and an Obama backer. ``They
see he has a great chance of winning.''
Second Look
In South Carolina, Obama, 46, is getting a second look from many
blacks. For Quarles, the switch came after she heard talk show host
Oprah Winfrey and Obama's wife, Michelle, speak in Columbia last month
about the candidate's humble beginnings. ``He knows more about middle-
class people,'' said Quarles.
Voters like Quarles notwithstanding, Clinton still enjoys support
among older black women, who tend to vote in greater numbers than
other demographic groups.
``You see a black, intelligent man and that image of a shining star is
there,'' said Bernice Scott, a 63-year-old woman who sits on the
Richland County Council and supports Clinton. ``But people now are
looking at substance; I have never seen anyone who's worked as hard as
she's worked on issues.''
Scott says she's part of a group of 35 mostly black women who meet
regularly over fish and grits. They're so committed to Clinton that
they recently packed yard signs and tennis shoes in their cars before
attending a funeral so they could maximize their time canvassing.
`Crown Jewel'
There's a gender gap in the black community. While many black men back
Obama, a fair percentage of women remain undecided, said Scott
Huffmon, polling director at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South
Carolina. ``Undecided African- American women are going to be the
crown jewel,'' Huffmon said.
Canvassing older black women on the streets of Charleston and
Columbia, it is evident that Obama's rapid ascent has allayed some
fears that whites will shun him.
``I was surprised he won Iowa,'' said Miriam Reid, a 66- year-old
retired store manager from Moncks Corner who attended an Obama rally
in Charleston last week.
Desiree Rogers, an African-American Obama supporter who is president
of Chicago-based People's Energy Corp.'s two utility subsidiaries,
said Obama's surge is generating cash from a once- hesitant black
establishment. Rogers expected 200 people at a Jan. 10 fundraiser she
hosted and wound up with 500.
``More and more people are saying, `We can do this,''' Rogers, 48,
said. Blacks are ``putting their money behind this.''
president (HITLARY STILL HAS A NEGRO PROBLEM)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080117/pl_bloomberg/a6awzanp5m08
Obama's Surging Black Support May Tilt South Carolina Primary Heidi
Przybyla
Thu Jan 17, 12:05 AM ET
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A Barack Obama sticker decorates the bumper of
Helen Quarles's car. It fit neatly over the Hillary Clinton decal
Quarles, a retired auto worker from McCormick, South Carolina,
displayed until recently.
Quarles, a 69-year-old African-American, once was a Clinton volunteer.
Her shift to Obama is part of a trend among black voters that may
cause problems for Clinton, the national front- runner in the
Democratic presidential race.
With South Carolina due to hold its Democratic primary Jan. 26 and
blacks expected to account for 50 percent of party ballots, polls show
Obama now leading Clinton.
Patricia Clark, a 47-year-old administrative assistant from
Charleston, said she has vacillated between Clinton, 60, and the
senator from Illinois and now leans toward Obama. Though ``Hillary's
been there for us,'' she said, ``I'm looking for someone who can make
some changes.''
South Carolina illustrates a broader shift in states with large
concentrations of black Democrats. On Feb. 5, several states with big
black populations, including Georgia and Alabama, where more than 40
percent of Democratic primary voters are black, hold nominating
contests.
Iowa Breakthrough
Obama's triumph in the Iowa caucuses was a catalyst for the change in
sentiment, political analysts say, because it demonstrated he can
garner white support and compete in the general election.
``Now I'm voting my heart, with Obama,'' said Cheryl Ewing, a 47-year-
old program manager from Philadelphia. Only six weeks ago at a focus
group conducted by pollster Peter Hart, Ewing, who is black, said she
was in Clinton camp's because America wouldn't vote for a black
president. ``Iowa made me change my mind.''
National and state polls show a dramatic reversal in support among
African-Americans in recent months. Obama now leads Clinton among
blacks nationwide, 57 percent to 32 percent, according to a Jan. 10-13
USA Today/Gallup poll. Less than two months ago, Clinton was ahead in
the same survey 56 percent to 33 percent.
In state polls, Obama is also beating Clinton among blacks, leading by
23 percentage points in South Carolina, according to the most recent
Rasmussen Reports survey. He's ahead by 38 percentage points among
Maryland blacks and by 39 points in Georgia, according to polls by the
Baltimore Sun and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Blacks remain a minority, so their strong support doesn't guarantee
him a win in those states. The troubling news for Obama's camp is that
he has attracted just 13 percent support from white Democrats in
Georgia.
`First Black President'
Still, the Clinton team a few months ago had been banking on competing
equally with Obama among blacks. Nobel-Prize winning author Toni
Morrison, an African-American, has hailed Clinton's husband, Bill, as
``the first black president.''
In addition to Obama's Iowa win, recent controversies over comments by
Hillary Clinton about the civil-rights era have also benefited Obama.
Clinton said just before the New Hampshire primary that racial
equality was achieved only when Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil
Rights Act. Some blacks interpreted that as slighting the Reverend
Martin Luther King Jr.
Much of Obama's ``rise in the polls has to be attributed to African-
American voters,'' said Steve Benjamin, chairman of the Richland
County, South Carolina, Democratic Party and an Obama backer. ``They
see he has a great chance of winning.''
Second Look
In South Carolina, Obama, 46, is getting a second look from many
blacks. For Quarles, the switch came after she heard talk show host
Oprah Winfrey and Obama's wife, Michelle, speak in Columbia last month
about the candidate's humble beginnings. ``He knows more about middle-
class people,'' said Quarles.
Voters like Quarles notwithstanding, Clinton still enjoys support
among older black women, who tend to vote in greater numbers than
other demographic groups.
``You see a black, intelligent man and that image of a shining star is
there,'' said Bernice Scott, a 63-year-old woman who sits on the
Richland County Council and supports Clinton. ``But people now are
looking at substance; I have never seen anyone who's worked as hard as
she's worked on issues.''
Scott says she's part of a group of 35 mostly black women who meet
regularly over fish and grits. They're so committed to Clinton that
they recently packed yard signs and tennis shoes in their cars before
attending a funeral so they could maximize their time canvassing.
`Crown Jewel'
There's a gender gap in the black community. While many black men back
Obama, a fair percentage of women remain undecided, said Scott
Huffmon, polling director at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South
Carolina. ``Undecided African- American women are going to be the
crown jewel,'' Huffmon said.
Canvassing older black women on the streets of Charleston and
Columbia, it is evident that Obama's rapid ascent has allayed some
fears that whites will shun him.
``I was surprised he won Iowa,'' said Miriam Reid, a 66- year-old
retired store manager from Moncks Corner who attended an Obama rally
in Charleston last week.
Desiree Rogers, an African-American Obama supporter who is president
of Chicago-based People's Energy Corp.'s two utility subsidiaries,
said Obama's surge is generating cash from a once- hesitant black
establishment. Rogers expected 200 people at a Jan. 10 fundraiser she
hosted and wound up with 500.
``More and more people are saying, `We can do this,''' Rogers, 48,
said. Blacks are ``putting their money behind this.''
