Scary….
The enormity of the task facing the Democrats in the midterm elections is all too evident at the Midwest church of Christ, which lies in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Louisville. Its pastor, the Reverend Jerry Stephenson, is a registered Democrat but he will be voting in the US Senate race for the Republican candidate and Tea Party favourite, Rand Paul.
Stephenson, 61, is furious over the school drop-out rate among African-American children in his neighbourhood – which has one of the highest crime rates in the city, especially among teenagers – and across the nation.
He felt pride when Barack Obama became the first black US president, but that pride has been tempered by a growing belief that he is not up to the job. “There has to be change that we can not only believe in,” he said, echoing an Obama campaign slogan, “but that we can see.”
The pastor is so angry that he has embraced the Tea Party movement, in spite of it being overwhelmingly white and repeatedly accused of racism. He speaks at their rallies across Kentucky, delivering fiery speeches in the cadences and rhythms common among southern black preachers.
Stephenson is in a minority of African-Americans likely to back the Republicans, estimated at little more than 10%. African-Americans traditionally back the Democrats and Obama won 95% of their vote in 2008. That loyalty appears to be holding: a Pew Research Centre survey in September found he had an 88% approval rating among black people, more than double that of the white population.
The question for Obama is whether they will turn out in record numbers again to vote Democrat or whether they will stay at home, either out of apathy or disillusionment with the slow economic recovery.
via Democrats target black vote as Tea Party collects converts | World news | The Guardian.
Lost in the 21st Century 