Dems Relying Heavily on Black Voters

Record black turnout helped send President Obama to the White House in 2008, and the Democrats are hoping black voters will again come to the president’s aid in the 2010 midterms. “This is very much about having the president’s back,” said DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse. The DNC plans to spend 10 times as much as it did in 2006 to rally the black community, and Dems may benefit from the fact that the Tea Party and birther movements are motivating black voters. African Americans give Obama an 88 percent approval rating—twice the figure among whites. Still, some Southern Dems have alienated black voters with their tepid support for the president, and blacks report widespread disillusionment with the pace of economic recovery.