Black Vote Support Not Sure Thing for Obama

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007 — -- One might assume that the only person of African descent currently in the race for the White House would automatically get the black vote.

That assumption would be wrong.

"To expect that an African-American candidate is going to get 100 percent of the African-American vote is … close-minded," said Keesha Gaskins, chair of Minneapolis' Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

"No Democratic candidate should assume they have the black vote," Gaskins said.

Although Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has not officially thrown his hat into the crowded 2008 ring, his exploratory committee has already brought considerable media attention to his nationality and the so-called "fight" for the black vote.

Headlines in recent weeks have pointed out that Obama has one tough competitor when it comes to winning black support: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Remember it was Clinton's husband who enjoyed enormous support from black voters and who was even called "our first black president," by none other than writer Toni Morrison.

President Clinton was the first white person inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame as an honorary member. Could his wife enjoy the same support from the black community?

In the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, blacks preferred Clinton over Obama by 40 percentage points, 60 percent to 20 percent (with an overall three-point margin of error).

Gaskins was just one of many blacks asked about the Obama vs. Clinton debate at this weekend's Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting in Washington DC.

Michelle Bryant of Milwaukee, Wis., says it's not that some black voters don't like or support Obama. She said they simply didn't believe the majority of the country would rally around a black candidate.

"You have a lot of African-Americans who talk about a wasted vote [on Obama]," Bryant said.

She added that many blacks were afraid that Obama's election could outrage radicals and endanger his safety.

"People are talking about it in the barber shops, salons and saying, 'Why do that [run for president] if you can be shot at?'"

Although the idea of an assassination attempt may seem extreme, Demetrius Green from Birmingham, Ala., was at the DNC meeting and he agreed that fear ran deep, especially in the South and among older voters.

"They all share the same sentiment: that he won't last long. My grandparents would vote for Hillary so he [Obama] could possibly be vice president and work his way up," he said.

Still, Green says Obama comes with the appeal of having a fresh perspective.

"We don't feel an obligation to vote for him because of the civil rights struggle. He comes with fresh ideas of 21st century struggles," he said.