Kamala Harris makes a push to energize Black voters. Will it work?

Diane Rehm: On My Mind

WAMU 88.5

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🗓️ 17 October 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

Does Kamala Harris have a Black voter problem?

For nearly four decades Black voters have been among the most consistent voting bloc for Democrats. Yet recent polling suggests that support may not be quite as reliable as it was in the past, particularly among Black men.

This week Harris made a push to stop the bleeding, talking to Black radio hosts and announcing policy proposals directly targeting the Black community.

“The path to victory for the Harris campaign has always been boosting turnout among base voters,” says Maya King, politics reporter with the New York Times. And because the race for president is so close, she adds, “if she’s underperforming with any corner of that bloc it is sort of an emergency situation.”

Maya King joins Diane to talk about Harris’s current focus on Black voters and whether it will work.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Diane. On my mind, black voters. For nearly four decades, they've been the most reliable block for Democrats,
0:17.0	but reason polling suggests that support is beginning to crumble, particularly among black men.
0:26.0	This week, Kamala Harris made a push to stop that bleeding,
0:31.0	talking to black radio hosts
0:34.0	and announcing policy proposals
0:38.0	directly targeting the black community.
0:41.0	And Vice President?
0:42.0	Roll Martin.
0:43.0	Ready to bring the fuck?
0:44.0	Well, I'm trying.
0:45.0	I'm trying.
0:48.0	Let's get right to us.
0:49.0	Maya King is a politics reporter with the New York Times.
0:53.6	She covers campaigns, elections, and movements
0:58.0	in the American South, as well as national trends relating to black voters and young people.
1:07.0	She joined me to talk about Harris's current focus on the black vote and whether it will work.
1:15.0	Mya Kamala Harris has been reaching out to black voters this week.
1:23.6	Tell me what her message has been.
1:27.2	Well, it's really been a mix of things.
1:29.3	I think from the outset, her campaign has said that they do not expect their support from
1:34.1	black voters to be baked in. The campaign is trying to treat black voters like
1:38.4	persuadable voters who should be given policy proposals who should be spoken to directly and really
	...

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