9/5/20
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign has in recent days increased outreach to Black voters in battleground states expected to play a pivotal role in the outcome of November's general election. The effort underscores the importance for Biden of energizing minority voters in the handful of swing states that will ultimately decide the race between him and President Trump. "If we think about the swing states where Black voter turnout dropped off in 2016 - Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina -[Biden] needs Black turnout to increase back to or near Obama levels," Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of left-leaning BlackPAC, told The Hill. "They certainly cannot be where they were in 2016." The former vice president visited Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday, where he met with the family of Jacob Blake, a Black man shot by a white police officer in the latest incident to spark racial justice protests around the country. His trip coincided with a new ad launched by his campaign targeting Black voters in four crucial swing states. And it came the same week his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) participated in several events geared toward Black voters, including a virtual meeting with a Black women's group in Michigan.
Biden, who served as vice president under former President Obama, holds a large lead over Trump with Black voters, though data suggests his advantage isn't as great as Hillary Clinton's was in 2016. Black voters have also taken on a renewed focus for both campaigns since protests against police brutality spread across the country over the summer. BlackPAC's Shropshire, whose group works to mobilize Black voters in battleground states, says police accountability and reform, along with systemic racism and discrimination, are among the most critical issues for the voting bloc. Those issues have been at the forefront of the election since George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer at the end of May. Biden, who has come under attack from Trump for being beholden to the far left, has been careful to balance his support of the Black Lives Matter movement with criticism of the more violent aspects of the protests. "One of the biggest motivators for Black participation this cycle is the fact that people want Trump gone," Shropshire said. "While I don't think that Black people need to be reminded every second of every day of how terrible Donald Trump has been for the Black community, it is important, I think, to point out the contrast."
