Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Black Vote

Last night's Democratic primary in Michigan could have a wide spread polarizing effect on the election. Sad to say the issue of race is raising its ugly head once again. In this day and age, we should not be picking whom we vote for because they are the same race or religion and anything else for that matter. We should be picking them because we believe they will do the best for the country as a whole. Because they espouse the same values.

The Michigan primary this year is unusual because the DNC has announce that their delegates will not be seated due to the fact that the local Democratic committee moved up the date to before the earliest date allowed. The same goes for Florida. Therefor, there were very few candidates in the primary and Illinois Senator Barack Obama did not participate. New York Senator Hillary Clinton was far and away the big winner with 60% of the vote, however, a majority of the black voters, 70%, chose to vote for uncommitted delegates. According to exit polls, they are supporters of Obama. Clinton got 26% of the black vote and 61% of the white vote.

Up until now, both candidates have had a steady level of support across the board, but evidently that is changing and it could have a major impact on the primaries in states such as South Carolina. It could give Obama a boost in such states that have a high percentage of black voters, but it could be a double edged sword as well. Many of the white voters who are leaning toward Obama could pull a switch also. And this could effect states that have a smaller population of black voters.

The test will in be South Carolina. The Democratic Primary will be held on Jan 26th and that is just around the corner, with the results of Michigan fresh in the voters minds.