In a blog entry at BlackAmericaWeb.com, author Michael H. Cottman writes that it is imperative for President Barack Obama to court black voters in certain states in order to win re-election this year. He apparently is doing just that.
… Obama traveled to Cleveland, Ohio this week and stopped by the home of William and Endia Eason, an African-American couple who have been married for 42 years but ended up $80,000 in debt as a result of an unscrupulous mortgage broker.
Obama is starting 2012 on the right track. During his first presidential trip this year, Obama not only toured the critical swing state of Ohio, but he also took his message of economic recovery and fiscal responsibility directly to a black family.
This year, as in 2008, the Obama re-election efforts are inexplicably tied to black voter turnout in states like Ohio, where rallying African-American voters is critical because a successful black voter outreach could determine whether Obama is re-elected to the White House. Obama has been criticized by some black Democrats for appearing aloof and not consistently engaging African-Americans.
Only Obama can change this perception.
For the president, meeting with the Easons could go a long way toward firing up the black base in Ohio. The Obama campaign doesn't just want black voters to trickle into voting booths in November; they would like to duplicate the euphoria and unprecedented black turnout from the 2008 campaign. To accomplish this tall order, black folks will need to see Obama in their communities; talk to him, to look him in the eye and shake his hand …
Read Michael H. Cottman's entire blog entry at BlackAmericaWeb.com.