President Biden, in trouble with Black voters, should treat them like swing voters, pollster says

Treating Black voters as swing voters, a Democratic Party pollster suggests, means not making assumptions on what’s wanted based on stereotypes or generalizations.

President Joe Biden is reportedly losing popularity among Black voters, and a Democratic Party pollster suggests he take a new approach.

The pollster contended that Biden should treat Black voters as swing voters if he’s serious about receiving Democratic support to assist with his 2024 presidential re-election effort. According to a Semafor article summarizing the polling findings, Black voters, although predominantly Democrat, share priorities and issue awareness that closely align with those of swing voters.

Semafor, launched in October 2022, brands itself as an intelligent, transparent global news platform for breaking stories and analysis. Journalists cover topics such as politics, finance, technology, climate, energy and entertainment.

Swing voters are not firmly committed to either Democrats or Republicans and are willing to accept candidates from other parties. Rather than making assumptions based on stereotypes or generalizations, treating Black voters as swing voters, one strategist told Semafor, could include customizing political rhetoric and policy ideas to resonate with the Black community. One thing it definitely means for Biden: Keep talking loudly and proudly about his record.

“You don’t have to do some crazy targeted ad buy that only goes on conservative talk radio in swing counties in Wisconsin,” Blueprint’s Evan Roth Smith said, Semafor shared. “You can talk about these things everywhere, at the loudest possible volume. You can put the president on a podium in front of a pharmaceutical company headquarters, talking about bringing the prices down.”

Following recent surveys indicating poor support for the president, several Democratic strategists and thought leaders are increasingly concerned about Biden’s endurance and ability to win the 2024 election, Fox News reported.

A Wall Street Journal survey indicated that Republicans have made significant gains among Black and Latino voters between the 2018 and 2020 elections.

In the 2018 midterm elections, Republican candidates had only 8% support among Black voters, and former President Donald Trump received the same 8% support in 2020. Democrats had a 31% support advantage over Republicans among Latinos in 2018 and a 28% advantage in 2020. 

The Journal shared that 17% of Black voters now back Republicans, while Democrats’ lead among Latinos has reduced to just 5 points.

A New York Times/Siena College survey released earlier this month revealed that Trump gained historic support from Black voters in key areas Biden won in 2020. Black voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin reportedly now favor Trump at a rate of 22%, up from 8% in 2020.

MSN reported that during a new episode of the New York Times podcast “The Run-Up,” its host, reporter Astead W. Herndon, invited a diverse group of Black voters to discuss the upcoming election and the challenges Democrats will face next year. Many voters shared that they mostly supported Democrats because the GOP’s agenda was intolerable to them.

Several voters described a president they intentionally favored in 2020 to force Trump out of office.

One female Black voter said many Black voters supported now-Vice President Kamala Harris and that she pushed Biden over the edge in 2020. However, others remain dissatisfied with the Democratic ticket.

At the time, voters hoped Harris would accomplish a great deal, MSN reported. However, the reality has yet to meet their expectations, raising the question, “Who speaks for us?”

A Black male member of the group stated that the GOP promoted entrepreneurial ideas that would pull some Black males to Trump next year. However, another shared he feels like the Democratic Party has forgotten about them.

“As African-American men, sometimes we get left like our needs, our desires, our wants are not always in account,” the male voter said, MSN reported. “We kinda get pushed to the side. I think sometimes that might be something that men are looking at … that our needs are not being taken care of. Like our matters are not being resolved.”

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