Vice President Kamala Harris might have a black voter problem, according to numbers coming from a recent NAACP poll.
As Election Day inches closer, the black voting demographic is expected to play a more significant role in deciding the outcome of the race. Democrats have typically enjoyed overwhelming support from the black community and have relied on their votes to ensure victory. But these numbers suggest that the disillusionment of black Americans from the party could have serious ramifications for Harris in November.
Most Black voters, 63%, plan to support Harris, compared with 13% for Trump, according to the new NAACP survey, which interviewed 1,000 registered Black voters across the U.S. from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12.
But 26% of Black men under 50 years old said they supported Trump, versus 49% who backed Harris. For Black men above 50, 77% said they supported Harris.
Sixty-seven percent of Black women said they supported Harris, while 8% said they supported Trump.
Top issues for Black voters were the economy, crime, and public safety, the survey found, with the cost of food and groceries, housing, and utilities being the biggest economic stressors. Eighty-two percent of Black men under 50 listed economic issues among the most important issues facing the country today, compared with 75% of Black women of all ages.
The problem gets even worse when it comes to black men – especially in the younger age groups.
Despite the enthusiasm, gender and generational disparities emerge as potential challenges for Harris.
While 79 percent of Black women over 50 said they would vote for her, only 66 percent of men in the same age group felt the same.
Among younger Black voters, aged 18 to 49, Harris’s support drops further, with just 56 percent backing her candidacy.
The NAACP poll found that 40 percent of respondents cited economic issues as their highest priority for elected officials, while 53 percent said protecting rights and freedoms was their primary concern.
The Harris/Walz campaign seems to understand that they have much work to do to win over the black electorate and have made efforts to reach out to this demographic. The vice president recently spoke with the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ).
It was a softball interview in which the moderators refrained from asking hard-hitting questions and allowed her to parrot her scripted talking points about the issues facing black voters. She seemed to acknowledge that she would have to work harder to make black people more comfortable with voting for her.
“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket. Black men are like any other voting group—you’ve gotta earn their vote. So, I’m workin’ to earn the vote. Not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.”
With polling showing razor-thin margins in swing states, even a small drop in black support could cost her the election. If this happens, and these numbers don’t change, it will have been a long time coming.
Black voters have become increasingly disillusioned with the Democratic Party, which has taken their votes for granted for decades without doing much to address the issues that are important to them.
This provides an opportunity for former President Donald Trump, who is making a concerted effort to peel off black voters from Harris. In fact, the Republican Party as a whole would be wise to emulate their presidential candidate going forward. If the GOP wants a bigger tent, now is the time to act on it.
