Obama Covers ESSENCE: Will He Win the BLACK FEMALE Vote Again This Year?
(Source: EEW Magazine)
President Barack Obama is flashing a bright smile on the July 2012 cover of Essence Magazine where he discusses his goals for the presidency as his reelection campaign is in full swing. The publication, which reaches millions of black women, represents a core constituency for the president. Will he win the black female vote again?
After President Obama recently came out in support of gay marriage, being named by Newsweek America’s “First Gay President,” he isolated many women of color, a largely religious base.
But Obama needs black women voters.
According to Pew Research, much of the surge in black voter participation in 2008 was driven by increased participation among black women, a very powerful group, as well as younger voters. The voter turnout rate among eligible black female voters increased 5.1 percentage points, from 63.7% in 2004 to 68.8% in 2008. Overall, among all racial, ethnic and gender groups, black women had the highest voter turnout rate in November 2008′s election—a first.
Some African American Christian women, who were shocked and upset by Obama’s choice to back same-sex marriage, have said they will not vote for him again. Others, though in disagreement with the president, claim they will support him in the 2012 election because Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, is not a viable alternative.
Still, reports are showing that Romney is gaining on Obama.
The Christian Post reported yesterday that the republican candidate is closing the gap with Obama. His favorability rating has increased 14 percentage points since February, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Monday. The POTUS still has a higher favorability rating — 56 percent to Romney’s 48 percent, but Romney’s rating has spiked from 34 percent in February, a precipitous rise.
Obama told Essence Magazine, “I’ve always approached my presidency as a long-term proposition…I didn’t run for office just to clean up the mess I inherited. I didn’t run for office just to return to the status quo. Understanding that some of the things I get done, we may not see the benefits from them for ten years. But that’s how change happens…”
The sort of change Obama is bringing, however, particularly by going against a biblical definition of marriage, isn’t sitting too well with a big chunk of his core black demographic.
Yet, it remains to be seen how this voting block will behave in the polls come November.
How do you feel about President Obama? Will you be voting for him again this year? Are you one of the ones who has trouble reconciling your core Christian convictions with his stance on gay marriage? Or do you think voters should focus on more than one issue in making their voting decision?
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As you can see, Black Women for Obama is even more relevant this year than in the previous election – let me know what you think…are black women turning their backs on the President?
Can’t speak for all black women. Some will stay home; some will vote for him.
Women of all racial backgrounds should be concerned at how the President’s support of non-traditional marriage could contribute further to the collapse of a moral absolute of what is right and what is wrong, with the “wink and nod” from Obama being there is no moral absolute governing marriage.
Jesus said, “Man shall live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
When anyone, President or otherwise, chips away at what Jesus himself used to combat temptation in the wilderness, he or she is chipping away at the tools available to every human to withstand the same.
Most black women do not want to lose their children or have them deconstructed in public schools from the religion they have been taught at home, whether it is Christianity, Islam, or another that is based on strong moral absolutes.
What Obama did in taking the stand he took — perhaps — is to send an inadvertent signal to his own daughters that when they face whatever temptation in their own lives, the tools Jesus used no longer suffice.
Sisters, look up Bishop Harry Jackson on the Internet and what this African American brother in Christ has to say on the matter.
What Barack has done is classic of what most of our Black male leaders have done throughout history and during the the time when white people came to African shores to steal us and that is to sell us out. Barack did the same in this case by endorsing gay marriage and by ignoring black Americans. Black women have a hard enough time finding marriage. We want babies from our own bodies! Barack also distanced himself from his pastor. I dont know what he is doing but he is wrong. Mitt and the Repubs are FAR from perfect but I feel it is more important to stick to “biblical” (Afrocentric) values. The Repubs are known to be villainous when it comes to workers’ rights and pay and to steal our religion but why do I need to be afraid of the Repubs? Hard work runs deep in my DNA. I would rather continue to work towards civilizing these Repubs. Call it working stealth. Dems think that it is alright to promote minorities on the basis that they are a minority only. I am sorry but I am tired of that nonsense. I have minorities at my job that need a Bain intervention! I will decide the last moment who to vote for after I pray on it (to the Creator) but I know it won’t be Obama. Will be Mitt or a third-party write in. In my life, more white men having giving me opportunities than able black men have. I’m sorry.