North & South — Black votes matter
Last month it was unimaginable
that one endorsement
would revolutionize the 2020
democratic campaign to win
the White House.
Gradually narrowed from an
energized, diverse field of qualified,
potential presidential candidates
determined to challenge
President Donald Trump, one
weekend changed perceptions
and the dynamics of the race.
When South Carolina Congressman
James Clyburn
stepped forward to stand side by
side former Vice President Joe
Biden, it seemed as if a tornado
and tsunami formed a political
alliance to transform the oncecrowded
campaign.
How a singular voice changed
the trajectory to the first Super
Tuesday primary can only be
attributed to the might of the
Black constituency.
Casualties of that single
endorsement included Indiana’s
Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota’s
Amy Klobuchar, billionaires
Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg
and Elizabeth Warren all
of whom suspended their campaigns
after the announcement
and instead united around Clyburn’s
candidate.
Granted it is a Leap Year
and March is the month news
commentators, weather forecasters
Caribbean L 14 ife, March 13-19, 2020
and pundits often inject
the phrase ‘in like a lion out
like a lamb’ — and its reverse
scenario – to predict a spring
awakening, but the swift shift
to support Biden can only be
described as Black Power with
amplification of the notion that
Black votes matter.
Often ignored as a significant
voting asset, Blacks are
proven transformers when they
turn out to vote in support of a
candidate.
In South Carolina they delivered
a whopping 70 percent to
the candidate many considered
low-energy and too tired to
excite the party and nation.
The victory revived a campaign
splintered by competition
from six rival Democrats who
claimed to be better qualified
to beat the president in November.
With one endorsement, Biden
proved himself the best of the
bunch because Blacks decided
the outcome.
Within 24 hours after Cong.
Clyburn’s decision, Biden’s
rivals coalesced to punctuate
the message Blacks endorsed
leaving the presumptive candidate
in contest with only one
likely challenger, Sen. Sanders.
Biden’s victory streak repeated
in Alabama, Minnessota,
Massachusetts, North Carolina,
Vermont, Virginia, Oklahoma,
Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.
By the time the polls closed
on March 3, Biden had amassed
wins in nine of the 14 states with
one scoring a win for former
New York Mayor, Bloomberg in
American Samoa.
Sen. Sanders fared reasonably
well considering the avalanche
from the united front
against him. He won Colorado,
Utah, Vermont and the grand
prize of most delegates in California.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President
Joe Biden talks to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at a primary
night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 29,
2020 after winning the South Carolina primary.
Associated Press / Gerald Herbert)
Wednesday, a revised media
conversation dubbed Biden “the
comeback gramps” with attribution
to the South Carolina
Congressman who energized
the campaign.
It was March Madness on
parade and less than one week
later California’s Sen. Kamala
Harris, a former presidential
hopeful injected another boost
for a Biden bid to the White
House.
Her bold gesture heightened
anxieties over the next six primaries
slated for March 10.
Catch You On The Inside!
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
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