Biden’s camp doubles efforts on reaching Black voters

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign has ramped up its effort on reaching Black voters.
• Biden’s campaign team recently launched a program called “Shop Talk,” which features a panel discussion about the challenges that Black men are facing in the US.
• The GOP has also revamped its efforts to portray President Donald Trump as “sympathetic” towards Black people.

As the November election comes in just two and a half months, the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has strengthened its efforts to resonate among Black voters. In the last presidential election, the voting bloc among Black people got a 20-year low in voting turnout.

During a virtual press conference on Monday, senior officials of Biden’s camp highlighted their commitment to pursue all voters of color but emphasized that specific groups are needed further reaching.

According to Symone Sanders, Biden’s senior adviser, the Black men as a bloc had “become more disillusioned and disaffected with the Democratic Party over the last couple of cycles.”

Louisiana representative Cedric Richmond, co-chairman of the Biden campaign, also said that “Black men are concerned about their children. They’re concerned about their economic status. They’re concerned about the next generation in terms of education, in terms of their interaction with police.”

Given such concerns, Richmond added that the messaging for Black voters was concise.

“Nobody is saying that we think that we’re going to get all of the Black votes because we’re the Democratic [ticket],” Richmond said.

Sanders said that one of their schemes that would specifically address the Black voters’ needs is the launching of the “Shop Talk” program, featuring “roundtable discussions on the challenges impacting Black men across the country.”

The initiative kicked start three weeks ago right after Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha police officers in Wisconsin.

The campaign team also said that it released new ads that tackled the life experience of being ‘black’ this year. 

According to Cameron Trimble, director of African American paid media for the campaign, the new ads show Biden’s effort on reaching “Black voters while offering a snapshot of how different groups of African Americans and demographics of Black Americans are dealing with the reality of the current climate.” 

Despite losing by a great margin among Black voters during the 2016 presidential election, Trump still reached double digits in the poll on the said voting bloc.

As the GOP revamps its efforts to portray Trump’s sympathizing attitude towards Black people, a poll from Hill-HarrisX broadcasted during the Republican National Convention showed an increase in Black support for President Donald Trump.

The movement was made to shield the president from criticisms of being a racist and his stance on Black Lives Matter protests.

Source: The Hill