Many Black Voters Angry But Still Back Obama

By Julie Baughman and Matt Flemin, CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE

Four years ago, estimates put African-American support for Barack Obama as high as 96 percent nationally. But as the Democratic National Convention gears up in Charlotte, NC, this week, the Obama campaign will have to work hard to limit a natural falling-off of supporters in a neck-and-neck race.

Two issues in particular working to undermine this optimism are the president's support of same-sex marriage and a high unemployment rate plaguing the African-American community.

"The president knows that we oppose him on this particular issue," Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the D.C.-based National Black Church Initiative, said of same-sex marriage. "(Obama's) career has just ended by opposing the power of the black church."

Evans said Obama's loss of black followers, and what he feels will be a subsequent loss of the election, is also exacerbated by continuing high unemployment among blacks. He said that Obama has not done nearly enough to improve the unemployment rate in Maryland and the country.

"He has not been good for us," Evans said.

Howard County Councilman Calvin Ball (D-Columbia/Elkridge/Jessup) and acting chairman of the , disagreed, saying Maryland voters will stand behind Obama regardless of his stance on marriage equality or his difficulty improving unemployment levels.

"I think that the vast majority of people who support President Obama do not support him because of one issue. They support our president because of the commitment, leadership and the caring that he shows and has shown on a myriad of issues," Ball said.

According to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, unemployment in Maryland has increased from 4.5 percent in July 2008 to 7.1 percent in July 2012. However, unemployment is down from 8.6 percent in February 2010, the highest it has been since Obama took office.

Ball was quick to defend Obama's employment policies and referenced his many attempts to pass legislation that were shot down in Congress. When Obama entered office, said Ball, many people were losing jobs, but now near the end of his term, jobs are being gained slowly, but steadily, nationwide.

Delegate Emmett Burns (D-Baltimore County), who heads an Economic Matters subcommittee on unemployment insurance, agrees with Ball that unemployment has "been (on) an upward trend as the economy worsens" and that voters, particularly black voters, will not place direct blame for their unemployment woes on Obama.

"I think they're going to go out and support him in great numbers," said Burns.

The president will need all the support he can get, if he hopes to defeat Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The two have been neck-and-neck, with the most recent CBS News poll released Aug. 28 showing Obama with a slim one-point lead, at 46 to 45 percent.

There is still a long two-and-a-half months left for the campaign to play out, so any polling is premature.

"In 2008, it was the first time an African-American was seriously considered for president of the United States, and it was unprecedented," said Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.

"Naturally, to capture that again at the same level of outward display of enthusiasm is difficult. The enthusiasm may have dampened on the surface," said Leggett. "But you won't know more until closer to the election."