Obama’s Big Gay and Black Problem
By Kevin Alexander Gray and Marshall Derks, Columbia
There’s a point in a campaign that’s behind in the polls when desperation sets in. That’s the time when trailing candidates try to throw the haymaker punch hoping for a knockout blow on the frontrunner. We are not at that point in this campaign season, but it’s getting close.
It’s no surprise that part of Barack Obama’s South Carolina primary strategy aims at black church-going voters. The church is the most organized part of the black community and churchgoers are reliable voters. In addition, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s hiring of local high-priced preacher-politician-businessman Darrell Jackson and her husband Bill’s clout with blacks puts additional pressure on Obama. The Illinois senator has to cut into Clinton’s black support as well as establishing his own African-American base.