With the early states' blanched preliminaries out of the way, the sense of blacks' empowerment here is palpable. They know they are key to North Carolina Senator John Edwards' make-or-break stand here in his birth state. They smiled inwardly when a newspaper in the state Capitol announced that the primary's pivotal voting bloc would be neither Nascar dads nor soccer moms but Older Black Women.
"Oh, yeah, extremely powerful," said Ike Williams, a ranking black political strategist. Mr. Williams should know; he was first hooked on politics 56 years ago as a 12-year-old enlisted by Mary Lee Davis, a devout churchgoer and demanding civil rights activist in his ghetto neighborhood. "Do the math," he said. "Go into any black church on a Sunday, and 60 to 75 percent of the people will be African-American women."
For all of Mr. Sharpton's preachments and prayers, the black vote is hardly shaping up as monolithic. It is expected to be spread thoughtfully among several choices. The reigning African-American, Congressman James Clyburn, quickly endorsed the New Hampshire victor, Senator John Kerry. The state's gospel-music stations resound this week with the gravelly voice of Charles Rangel, a leader of the Congressional Black Caucus from New York. He is soliciting votes for the floundering campaign of Gen. Wesley Clark.
Black politicians say that of course they want to impact the primary field. But even more, they want to signal to the rest of the nation that America's black community is well organized and furiously determined to deliver payback for the Florida vote-counting debacle of 2000.
| Continue Francis X. Clines' Editorial Observer essay "Finally, a Primary With a More Varied Complexion" for the New York Times
posted in articles on January 28, 2004 10:44 PM | t (0)
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