One of the reasons to be optimistic about the path forward.

It's because AA voters are not monolithic. No voting bloc is monolithic.
In each city and each state, AA voters have different views and concerns that affect their decision-making process.
AA voters in the South are very different from, say, AA voters in Chicago or New York (AA voters in New Hampshire, for instance, gave a very strong showing for Bernie).

I think it's a false narrative to attribute SC loss to "AA voters not liking Bernie." It's way more complicated than that.
If you really think about it, it's a quite preposterous proposition to be putting forth -AA voters don't like Bernie because what, they're somehow categorically more anti-semitic than white voters? No. That's not the case at all. And they all went for Hillary because they all unanimously felt nostalgic about the Clinton administration?

First, there was a huge media access factor in SC where the old media has won over the new one. Radio. Who would have thought? I didn't.
Second, there was a trust factor, as one DUer alluded to a few days ago. Because, let's face it. There is a vicious legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in the South, which might have rendered AA voters more apprehensive about suddenly embracing a white man to represent their voice. On this instance, I think Bernie campaign could have done a better job; they could have run ad using an old footage of Bernie chained to a black woman as he was protesting segregation. Because that's a powerful image, and I think that might have been the reason the Clinton campaign had their hit man neutralize Bernie's civil rights record in the first place.
Third, high-profile endorsements from political bigwigs in each community must have played an important role. There was not a lot that we could have done about that.

And there's no reason to believe AA voters in SC were particularly enthusiastic about Hillary, either. Even though it was a big win, voter turnout was very low.

So, in the immortal words of Marco Rubio, let's dispel the notion that AA voting bloc is monolithic and their votes need not be earned because they all vote alike.

On the civil rights record. On the death penalty. On marijuana legalization. On minimum wage. On jobs program. On education. On and on it goes. Bernie has more proactive and progressive policy platform.
Not to mention the fact that Bernie's not beholden to the private prison industry (I think he should hit her hard with that).

It's been a rough couple of days, but we can and will win out in the end.
It was never going to be easy. Let's keep doing this.


With Love, Nyan.

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