Juan Williams: Obama has one more election to win
12/16/19 06:00 AM EST
Christmas came early this year for black supporters of President Trump.
Two recent polls showed the president with support from more than 30 percent of black voters.
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If those polls are right, the 2020 election is over. Get ready for Trump to stay in the White House until 2025.
But I have my doubts. The polls have a high margin of error due to small sample size. And Trump’s approval rating among black Americans has been consistently measured at about 10 percent.
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As Trump said a month after defeating Clinton in 2016: “They didn’t come out to vote for Hillary. They didn’t come out. And that was a big — so thank you to the African American community.”
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Obama remains the undisputed black leader in Democratic politics.
The House Impeachment Hearings have given rise to a new generation of budding black Democratic stars such as Rep. Val Demings (Fla.) and Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.).
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But Obama remains the singular voice able to call black voters to the polls.
For strategic reasons, Obama is holding back from public support of Biden or anyone else.
He does not want to be seen as an establishment ‘kingmaker,’ anointing any candidate.
But the lack of credible, prominent black Democratic voices on the national stage is flashing a danger sign in the face of Trump’s desire for a depressed turnout in black precincts.
For that, Obama needs to get off the sidelines as early as possible next year and dedicate himself to activating the black vote. He has a moral obligation to stop Trump, the most racially inflammatory president in living memory, from winning a second term.
Obama has one more election to win for the Democrats.