MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton warned Democrats they are having a hard time “connecting” with minority voters and it could spell doom in November. Sharpton appeared on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’
Host Joe Scarborough said: “The question is are Democrats doing what it makes to keep those who have loyally voted Republican, are Democratic voting Democratic because right now, you have people of color breaking away from the Democratic Party and you have white college educated suburban voters breaking away from Republicans, so it’s creating a real flux.
Sharpton said: “The Democratic Party and President Biden does have some things they could be using that they’ve done that has benefited clearly Black and Latinos, but it’s not connecting.
“I spent the last two or three days in Washington speaking to the Congressional Black Caucus and the concern we have is how we are connecting the base to the message.
“So you’re seeing this as the polls indicate, Latinos and Black men go the other way because they’re not getting their message to the ground in the way they should.
“And I think that that is the challenge they have in these last four or five weeks.
“Clearly the thing that is making this competitive is the Supreme Court decision on women’s right to choose and the fact that Donald Trump won’t leave the stage.
“Those are the only things that are really helping the Democrats stay in the game.
“They must connect the message to those that would be energized.
“At this point, that has not happened.
“I think coming out of the caucus, we can, they are trying to make that connection,” he said.
According to CNN:
Looking at the national polling, it seems possible that Democrats might not be able to count on nearly as much support from Black voters as they have in previous elections.
An average of the final five live interview polls of the 2020 election showed Biden with an 84% to 9% lead over then-President Donald Trump among Black voters – a big 75-point advantage.
But this year, an average of the last five live interview polls I could find gives Democrats a 74% to 12% advantage among Black voters – a 62-point edge – on the generic congressional ballot, which usually asks respondents some form of the following question: “If the elections for Congress were held today, would you vote for the Democratic or Republican party?”
This represents a larger swing toward Republicans by Black voters than the swing we have seen among all voters from the 2020 baseline.
Notably, the final five live interview polls I could get from the 2018 midterms showed Democrats with an 85% to 9% lead on the generic ballot with Black voters. Again, what we’re seeing this year is clearly different.
This shift among Black voters isn’t something new. Back in April, I pointed out that Democrats had a 73% to 11% advantage among this demographic on the generic ballot.
To me, this consistency indicates that it isn’t statistical noise we’re witnessing. It’s something more concrete than that.