Clinton loses black leaders to Obama charm offensive

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2483831.ece

When a mobile phone started to ring on the podium as Senator Barack Obama was addressing members of the National Action Network in New York a few days ago, he quickly improvised: "There's something humming down here. Is that Hillary calling?" The network is mostly black-based and was founded by the Rev Al Sharpton, who was also on the stage. The joke brought the house down. Senator Obama is laying siege to the black support in New York state that - until recently - Mrs Clinton could take for granted.

It is a development that may cost the former first lady dearly. Roughly one in five Democrats who vote on primary day in New York next February will be black and any suggestion of an erosion of their support will force her to spend time and money where she thought she would not need to.

Signs that black elected officials in the state are drifting into the Obama camp come as his campaign continues to build momentum. In the first quarter of this year he matched Mrs Clinton in raising funds, while a new poll released on Monday showed him dead-even with her nationally for the first time.

Loyalty among black leaders in the state can be traced back to the high popularity of President Bill Clinton in the African American community, but the sudden rise of Mr Obama appears to be stirring a degree of ethnic pride and excitement that is straining those old assumptions.