Comedian Steve Harvey welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris at a Friday event in Atlanta with three words: “You’ve been busy.” The Democrat didn’t pause a beat. “Yeah, I’m in these streets.”
With polls showing Black voters’ support for President Joe Biden beginning to drift, Harris has been deployed across the nation to help shore up the campaign’s support with its most loyal constituency.
And she didn’t mince words as she spoke to the 100 Black Men of America conference at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. Throughout her speech, she repeatedly cajoled the crowd to “help me get out the word” about the White House’s economic agenda.
“In order for it to be real, it’s got to hit the streets,” she said. “And the only way that will happen in a meaningful way is that people are aware of what’s available to them and then take advantage of it.”
Her speech at the packed downtown Atlanta ballroom might have also served as a ringing reminder that Democrats aim to compete in Georgia, despite polls that show former President Donald Trump with a lead in the state.
Notably, her visit Friday was one of two scheduled to Atlanta in less than a week. Harris plans to return to Atlanta on Tuesday, this time to speak at hip-hop star Quavo’s summit to stop gun violence.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
The stops here underscore concerns that Biden’s support among Black men is slipping, with recent polls showing Black voters’ support for Democrats softer than in the past.
Biden’s hopes of keeping Georgia in the Democratic column four years after his upset victory in the state rest on strong turnout from Black Georgians, the pillar of a coalition that also includes white liberals, suburban swing voters and disillusioned Republicans.
Even a small sliver of Black Georgians who stay home could upend the fragile electoral alliance that helped Biden carry the state by fewer than 12,000 votes.
While senior Georgia Democrats say there’s little chance of a striking exodus of Black voters to Trump, they’re more concerned that Biden’s campaign won’t inspire the same rush to the polls it did when he flipped the state in 2020.
Put simply, many of the president’s allies don’t see it as a question of Biden or Trump among Black men, who have long been among the most loyal Democratic voters. It’s more of a battle between Biden and the couch.
Speakers at the convention were mindful of those undercurrents, loading their remarks with praise for Biden’s initiatives that whittle away at billions of dollars of student debt and take aim at economic inequality.
None was so assertive as Harvey, who set aside his scripted questions early in the conversation and told the crowd he wasn’t interested in asking Harris tough questions.
“I’m throwing a lob,” Harvey said, adding that he hoped her answers would “stop all this foolishness” he hears about the White House doing too little to help disadvantaged Black people.
But there were signs of dissension among some of the attendees that reflected polls that show Black voters’ support for Biden’s reelection bid is softer than initially expected.
Ken Wainwright, a union organizer and former candidate for the Atlanta City Council, said he’s still undecided about which candidate to back in a “tough, tough, tough” November vote.
The questions that nag at him: Is the torrent of federal infrastructure and green energy dollars unleashed by Biden initiatives helping Black Georgians and other minorities?
“Where is the money going? The songs and poems are over. It’s not about feelings anymore,” said Wainwright, among the hundreds who attended the conference. “When Trump says he can make a deal over important economic issues, it’s appealing.”
Duvale Murchison, a senior vice president of programs for the Greater Charlotte 100 Black Men of America chapter, is ardently opposed to Trump, but he said he is not “moved either way” when asked about Biden.
”I just know what I’m not voting for,” he said.
He thought Harris’ speech was informative and made him want to do more research.
”So when I’m mentoring young Black boys … I can share information with them and people in my community,” he said.
For students Amina Muhammad and Daniel Clanton, this is the first election they are old enough to vote, but they too said they are undecided if they will.
”I’m doing more research and I want to learn more,” said Muhammad, 20.
Clanton, 21, echoed those sentiments, saying that he wanted to make “sure those choices that (both parties are) making, work for me.”
Republicans poked fun at the Biden campaign’s attempts to shore up the base, suggesting it was a sign of trouble. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, one of a handful of Black Republicans in Congress, said Biden’s attempts to court Black voters are a “failure.”
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
“If Kamala Harris has been a net positive for the Biden campaign, then why are they taking a defensive strategy with Black voters in swing states?” he asked. “Because she’s a drag on their ticket. Make no mistake: A vote for Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris.”
Harris shrugged off the criticism about her agenda, telling the audience that she ignores naysayers.
“I like to say, ‘I eat no for breakfast.’ I don’t hear no,” she said, emphasizing economic programs she said will pay long-term dividends.
“It’s not about a handout. It’s about giving people the opportunity to compete,” she said. “Give hardworking people the opportunity to get ahead — and not just get by.”
It was Harvey, however, who stole the show. He got loud ovations after mocking far-right efforts to sanitize classroom discussions about slavery and curb programs aimed at increasing diversity.
“Please quit tripping. When we get up to November, we’ve got to get to these polls. Because this other group talks about Make America Great Again. I don’t know when it was supposed to be great for us,” he said.
“But when you start taking Black history out of schools, and you start getting rid of diversity inclusion,” Harvey said, “I’ve got a real feeling when they think America was great.”
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
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