Will the Democrats still explode with black voters?

Elections

In Missouri and other states, concern is evident: the party has failed to engage sufficiently early and often enough in a critical constituency.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Two Democratic activists contacted Senator Claire McCaskill's campaign last week after hearing growing concern in their community that the outgoing Democratic president was giving way to black voters.

They requested a meeting, which was held Friday at the headquarters of a local black sorority, according to Shicagolyn Hams Scroggins, one of the activists. Before the meeting, she heard more and more grunts: a person asked why McCaskill was touring so late in the community. One second asked why the senator was only appearing now.

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Ms. McCaskill appeared before more than 100 African American women who answered questions, including her presence in the community, according to the women present. McCaskill explained that she had spent time with people in rural areas who did not know her as well as those in the city, an explanation that was welcomed by the women in attendance.

The concerns that precipitated the event highlight a crucial issue for McCaskill's Democratic and Democrat candidates across the country: can the party give energy and produce black voters in 2018? as spectacularly as it did not manage to do it in 2016? Black political activists have said that the failure of the Democratic Party to prepare for the departure of President Barack Obama from the White House – and the decline in minority voting that was likely to follow – goes back several years.

"Many members of the civil rights community have not only warned those concerned, but they also said, as early as 2015, that the campaign and the party had not been properly organized and that we had not been listened to, "said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. "2016 was an absolute disaster."

"You want our vote, come and get it," said Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities; BLOC organizes black communities to create political power in Wisconsin. "In 2016, voters viewed black votes as a given." Hillary Clinton, infamous, did not visit Wisconsin during the election campaign and lost the state by about 23,000 votes.

In Missouri, conversations with nearly a dozen elected officials, activists and voters reveal a mix of cautious optimism and concern about whether McCaskill has done enough to ensure a strong participation here in Kansas City and St. Louis, which it will need to win a state. President Donald Trump has reached nearly 20 percentage points. The participation of African Americans in Missouri – and the Democrats' advantage among black voters on the GOP – has decreased slightly from 2012 to 2016.

Quinton Lucas, a city council member who is running for the mayor of Kansas City next year, congratulated McCaskill for her outreach to the community and said she was working tirelessly to resolve any issues. Despite his efforts, he said that he still heard some complaints about his presence in the community and was worried about the participation of African Americans next week.

"I'll be absolutely honest, I'm worried about it now," Lucas said.

A Missouri Democrat, a veteran, who requested anonymity to speak frankly, said McCaskill's problems with black voters represented a "life-threatening situation." she worked hard to solve the problem, visiting churches and organizing small events with prominent African-American officials in both cities, among other commitments.

In a brief interview in a local campaign office, McCaskill said she had worked hard to get support in African-American communities. With Missouri being a large and diverse state, voters are often disappointed not to see it more often, she said.

"I did not take their votes for granted. We've done a lot of work in St. Louis and Kansas City, and I feel like I have very good working relationships with a lot of very important African-American leaders, "McCaskill said. "I think we are going to have a very good turnout and excellent results in these communities."

Kayla Reid, an activist from St. Louis, runs a grassroots organization of 30 organizers who plan to contact 30,000 voters in predominantly black neighborhoods before polling day. Reid said that she thought McCaskill was too focused on his efforts to win Republican voters at the expense of his contacts with his Democratic base. But she said she still expects strong voter turnout at the polls from local problems and opposition to Trump's program.

"I think people understand that this moment is far more important than Claire and that they're going to vote," Reid said.

The participation of African-Americans will be crucial in several other races in the Senate, including Florida, Tennessee, and Indiana, as well as in governorship races in Florida and Georgia, two states where Obama will hold gatherings in the last days before mid-term. And progressive African-American activists across the country say the national party seems to take their concerns more seriously this year than in recent election cycles, when White Democrats from the DC just assumed it was the party of the day. Obama would be enough.

Democrat leaders have been blatant about their inability to reach African-American voters in 2016 and promised 2018 would be different. "African Americans – our most loyal group – we all too often took for granted. It is a shame for us, dear colleagues, and I beg you to apologize, "said the chairman of the National Democratic Committee, Tom Perez, whom he repeated across the country this summer. "And for that I say, it will never happen again!"

Perez and other Democrats highlighted their success in the Alabama Senate race last year as proof of their successful African-American engagement. There were concerns about the turnout of blacks before the elections, but a significant increase in the number of African-American voters helped to propel Doug Jones to his unlikely victory in the Senate. Many Democratic strategists expect to see a similar surge next week in races across the country.

Democrats hold a comfortable lead in the Senate races of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Hillary Clinton lost four states in 2016 after underperforming African-American voters.

But the national party's efforts – including committees dedicated to winning seats in the House, Senate and Governors – have been uneven, according to interviews with black organizers across the country.

The DNC has provided grants to States Parties to recruit organizers in African American communities, including a grant of USD 100,000 to the State Party of Missouri earlier this year. The DNC also launched a "Seat at the Table" tour this summer to "organize and engage with black women.

But some say that the Democratic Party remains below its rhetoric.

"I do not want to hear Tom Perez apologize again for the failure of the party," Quentin James, founder of Collective PAC, told Netroots Nation in August. "Black voters and black candidates will decide whether the Democrats will win in November."

James did not respond to a follow-up interview request.

The DNC's "African Dmerican Dems" Twitter account is also dormant, no new message since February this year, a check may be unimportant but symbolic, according to some activists. A spokesman for the DNC said the lack of publications was intentional because "we do not want to partition communities anymore," while many DNC programs – including "Seat at the Table" – target specific communities. Twitter accounts of Hispanic and Asian voters slumbered months later.

The spokesman added that "everything now passes only by the account of Democrats or Tom," referring to Perez.

The Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association largely left African Americans in the service of individual campaigns, providing them with advice and financial support. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee often praises a $ 25 million program for "grassroots voters," but that includes African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Millennials, and women – essentially everyone except white men over 35 years old.

The inequality of these efforts, which stems in part from a lack of muscle memory when it comes to organizing African-American communities, prompted several outside groups to intervene to try to strengthen the chances of the Democrats. BlackPAC and the Black Progressive Action Coalition announced this month that they would invest a total of $ 14 million to increase African-American mid-term participation, including in Missouri. Majority Forward, the non-profit branch of the Senate majority PAC, a group aligned with minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Has also invested in African-American participation.

Hams Scroggins, the activist who organized the meeting with African American women, said that McCaskill had been greeted with enthusiasm at the event, discussing issues such as health care, violence by firearm and the minimum wage. The group gave him a standing ovation at the end. Several activists and Missouri officials said McCaskill's efforts, combined with balloting initiatives to raise the minimum wage and legalize marijuana for medical purposes, would increase African-American participation.

On Sunday, McCaskill visited three important black churches here, many of which she has visited on a number of occasions. That evening, she attended several nights at home in St. Louis with Wesley Bell, a black city councilman who defeated a deputy for three decades at the August district attorney's primary school. St. Louis. This week, McCaskill will gather in St. Louis with former Vice President Joe Biden.

"This concern, at least in my mind, has been appeased," Bell said of McCaskill's efforts in the community. "She's out, she's visible."

Leonard Marshall, 62, a black voter who attended a McCaskill minimum wage rally in Kansas City this weekend, signed up for a volunteer position at the event. He called McCaskill a fervent advocate for workers, but he also added that she could do more in black communities.

"She's engaged," said Marshall, "but she can do better."