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Obama, Hillary Vie for 'Second Black President'
If Bill Clinton was the "first black president," his wife and Barack Obama are vying to be the second.
Obama, the only black running for the White House, came into a debate Thursday night at predominantly black Howard University with the crowd on his side, chanting his name as all eight Democratic candidates posed for pictures on stage. But Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to win many of them over in an impassioned performance that addressed their anger over inequality.
"If HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country," Clinton said in the biggest applause line of the night, bringing audience members to their feet.
Black voters are a loyal base for Democratic candidates, which was why all the presidential candidates were sure to take part in a debate focused entirely on issues facing the black community. Polls show that blacks are closely divided between Obama and Clinton, with other candidates gathering less support. Story Continues Below "Clinton and Obama are both pulling on the heart strings of black voters," Democratic consultant Jamal Simmons said. "Most black voters are very fond of the Clintons, and having Hillary Clinton running for president and bringing back that feeling after years of President Bush is pulling on black voters out of a sense of loyalty. But Obama is pulling on them out of a sense of history."
Blacks have favorable views of both Clinton and Obama by about 8-to-1 margins, and of 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards by about 3-to-1, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. The telephone survey of 802 blacks, conducted June 4 to 24, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who served as Democrat Al Gore's campaign manager in 2000, said the debate gave Obama an opportunity to introduce himself to many black voters who aren't familiar with him after he served just 2 1/2 years in Washington. "He didn't knock it out of the park," Brazile said, adding that Clinton was a standout.
"She clearly understood that these issues deserve urgent attention, and she connected on that," Brazile said of the New York senator.
She also is married to former President Clinton, so wildly popular among black voters that novelist Toni Morrison dubbed him "the first black president" in a 1998 essay.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race Inside Cover Stories
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