Democrats Must Get More Aggressive With Their Black Voter Messaging
Democrats right now seem either unable or unwilling to push harder against rather pervasive and damaging discourse in the Black public sphere that could prove rather disastrous in November.
Ellison | Publisher’s Riff
We’re hearing a lot from pundits and pollsters on how old President Biden is and how much that might handicap him electorally or not. That’s a very big conversation, and Democrats should find every way possible in their strategic messaging arsenal to counter it since it shouldn’t be about age - it should be about policy and performance. But Democrats also find themselves beseigned on another front: Black voters. At the moment, they seem either unable or unwilling to push harder against rather pervasive and damaging discourse in the Black public sphere that could prove disastrous for Biden and other down ballot Democrats in November (and, really, for the rest of us). Worst case scenario: Should Trump win due to the absence of needed Black votes at the margins - in the event this is a tight race - and Republicans maintain a shaky grip on the House or, heavens forbid, even take the Senate back, the political and public policy ramifications will be ten times more apocalyptic for the general Black population which is just now finding some stabilization as a result of Biden administration policies.
Democrats need not just say the above, but they need to find a way to say more and to say it succinctly to Black audiences. It’s not enough to simply say the alternative is worse - even though we know it is. Nor is it enough for Biden to stage dinner table sit downs - albeit authentic-looking and compassionate - with Black families or barbershop visits or arrange press gaggles with the typical phalanx of Black elected officials, civil rights leaders and clergy. Some major adjustments are needed in messaging, along with added energy and sophistication that shows how much Black voters, and especially younger Black voters, are being taken seriously by Democratic presidential and down-ballot campaigns.
Ongoing Distortions
As with all voters, disinformation is rampant. But disinformation is of even greater concern with Black voters who are already struggling with a shrinking Black media outlet universe and one increasingly dominated with loud social media, podcast and broadcasting voices who regularly push distortions. Black people, generally, are frustrated and tense about the state of things. Intensifying that is a movement of Black “progressive” activists, academics, elected officials and entertainers annointing themselves as public intellectuals who are openly agitated by topics ranging from reparations to the conflict in Gaza. Various issues are being constantly thrown out of context. And while the hard Black left has plently of vitriol to throw at Biden and Democrats, we notice none of the same for an openly anti-Black and racist Trump, Republicans and a re-emergent movement of white supremacists becoming much more comfortable in the open.
What’s often suggested these days by an increasingly Black “left” is that the Biden administration is not doing enough, if anything, for Black people. That message is widespread on social media platforms such as X/Twitteror TikTok, where widely followed “influencers” will offer false equivalencies between immediate policy gains the current Biden administration is pushing aggressively and the long-game fight for Black reparations (something that’s clearly not going to happen in the immediate future and if it does happen can realistically occur through targeted state and local policy fights). Among those talking points raised often are how much other population groups or interests receive in comparison to Black Americans today. For example: comparisons to Ukrainians receiving $75 billion in U.S. aid since their war with Russia began or the $14 billion in aid promised to Israel in the recent Senate-passed joint Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan defense supplemental budget that’s stuck in the House. Or: the false claim that migrants illegally entering the U.S. are receiving $2,200 a month in federal government payments; and the other major distortion over all migrant families receiving “pre-paid cards” - when, in reality, it’s only a pilot program being rolled out by New York City offering pre-paid debit cards to a limited group of 500 migrant families applying for asylum … a program that will save that city more than $7 million a year.
What’s the Message?
Democrats can easily push back very hard and successfully against the claim that “Black Americans are getting nothing under Biden.” Of course, they’ll need to exercise caution in displaying favoritism for one racial group over another, especially considering that while Black voters are a critical key to winning elections, they are still 13 percent of the national electorate compared to White voters at 67 percent, Latino voters at 13 percent and Asians at 4 percent. This takes skill to do.
They will need to, however, go on offense versus staying on defense. Offer Black voter messaging in a manner that surpasses the aggressiveness of hard Black left messaging or the messaging of digital influencers who are clearly working in partnership with right-leaning groups, white nationalist fronts or foreign adversaries who are attempting to influence U.S. electoral outcomes …
Stay on punchlines and keep repeating. Keep the message simple, stick to the most important numbers that everyone can understand and highlight the most important data points. Long, obligatory Black History Month press releases such as this are important and useful but, once again, they’re long and they must be cut up into digestible pieces and put on blast repeatedly…
Call out. Second: simply have the verified intelligence ready which shows those “influencers” are being influenced by shady anti-Black interests.
Debunk and align. Be ready to actively debunk, sharply, every false claim. That will mean expanded hiring of and alignment with Black social media users with sizeable followings. There are signs the Biden campaign is getting better with that.
Keep touting Black unemployment numbers. The Black unemployment rate is 5.3 percent - the lowest it’s ever been. It hit nearly 17 percent during the Trump administration. So, during the course of Biden’s presidency, Black unemployment has dipped nearly 12 percentage points (Why vote for someone who’d bring high Black unemployment back?)
Show how Black wealth grew under Biden. Black wealth grew 57 percent since Biden took office. Why would anyone in their right mind want to stop that? It is the lowest median total net worth for households compared nationally and to any other group, but the speed of Black household growth actually outpaced every other demographic.
Show how there are more Black people with health care. Black health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (what everyone else likes to call “Obamacare”) grew by 49 percent.
Boast Biden’s HBCU funding. Historically Black Colleges and Universities have received over $7 billion worth of investments from the Biden administration - that averages out to roughly $1.75 billion per year for HBCUs during one term of Biden. In contrast, Trump simply signed then bragged about an Executive Order promising support for HBCUs in 2017 which had no funding attached to it and when, in 2019, he finally signed a $255 million bill of investments going to minority serving institutions, only $85 million per year was authorized for HBCUs.
Biden is the only president that’s tried to wipe out all of our student loan. As Bankrate reports, 86 percent of Black college students take out student loans. It also discovered that 64 percent of Black respondents in a 2023 survey could not accomplish important “financial milestones,” like buying a house, because of student loan debt. The student loan default rate for Black borrowers is 30 percent compared to just 13 percent for White borrowers. Notice how median Black household wealth grew nearly 60 percent as Biden implemented student loan cancellation programs? Biden is the only president that actually called for 100 percent student loan debt cancellation and got stopped by a Trump-stacked Supreme Court. Why would any sane Black voter want to stop this policy?
Keep Black soldiers out of World War III. There is this persistent chorus of folks who want to pull funding from Ukraine, from Israel, from U.S. diversion in the Red Sea and support for allies like Taiwan in the Pacific. Their point: “that’s all money for overseas and not money for Black people back home.” Yet, over a quarter of the enlisted U.S. military is made up of Black active duty and reserve troops. Who do you think gets called to sudden front lines when we’re suddenly drawn into World War III because we allowed Republicans in Congress to let funding to Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere collapse? Do we not think Black soldiers won’t be on the front lines dying?
Keep the messaging simple. Make certain it has a punch. Stick to the high level messaging points that everyone is talking about, and if they ask for more, be prepared to answer.
CHARLES D. ELLISON is Publisher of theBEnote.com. He is Principal and Chief Strategist of B|E Strategy and a former 2023 Emerson Collective Fellow.