Why Obama Shouldn’t Be Taking the Black Vote for Granted
There’s no question that Hispanics are among the most coveted voting blocs for November’s election. Numerically, they’re the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. population. Major media regularly monitor their presidential preferences. And both campaigns have already made loud overtures to them—including the Obama administration’s directive not to deport undocumented immigrant children, and Mitt Romney’s hints that Hispanic senator Marco Rubio might be his vice presidential nominee.
But while surely an important constituency, Hispanics are not the only crucial minority bloc needed for Obama to win in November. In fact, Black voters will likely be just as, if not more, essential to a Democratic victory—especially if we look beyond growth in the minority vote, where Hispanics are key, to the composition of the minority vote. This is not just because black support nationally for the reelection of the first African American president will likely be sky high, but also because of the relative demographic weight of blacks in the projected 2012 minority electorate.
According to the most recent data, blacks still have more weight in the national electorate than Hispanics. In part, that’s because Hispanics face a bigger gap than Blacks between their total population and their eligible voter population. Because more of their population is too young to vote or not citizens, only 44 of every 100 Hispanics in the U.S. population is eligible to vote, compared with 66 of every 100 Blacks. Thus, while Hispanics comprise 17 percent of the total population, they comprise only 11 percent of eligible voters—persons who are citizens, aged 18 and above. This compares with African Americans who are a 12 percent share of both.