New Poll Shows Divide Amongst Blacks in Democratic Race
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) debate during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 14, 2016 in New York City. The candidates are debating ahead of the New York primary to be held April 19.
In the Democratic primary race, there seems to be a large divide between the older and younger African-Americans. Many black voters under 30 favor Senator Bernie Sanders, while older African-Americans are overwhelmingly and unsurprisingly backing Hillary Clinton.
Thus far, the former Secretary of State has won more than 70 percent of the African-American vote in most states that have a reasonable black population that have already finished their primary elections or caucuses, and it is this lead that has been one of the most important factors in her Democratic victories against Sanders. However, NBC News administered a poll that showed that young blacks are not voting in large numbers, which heavily affects and alters the numbers of this race. According to the exit polls in the 25 states of which NBC News ran their poll, Sanders received 52 percent of the votes of Blacks under the age of 30, compared to 47 percent for Clinton.
With that being said, African-Americans under 30 only make up 3 percent of the Democratic constituency in those states. Comparatively, blacks over 60 make 7 percent of the electorate of those states, and Clinton won 89% of their votes, while Sanders only won 9 percent of that demographic.
Let’s be honest, though. Are we really surprised by this? The age gap is not surprising, especially since older people of all races generally vote more consistently than younger ones. According to the United States census data, about 57 percent of U.S citizens between the ages of 25 and 44 votes, while 68 percent of those voted were between 45 and 64 in the 2012 general election.
Amongst Blacks, there is a similar gap, even though the gap is smaller. 65 percent of Blacks between 25 and 44 voted, compared to 72 percent of those between 45 and 64.
No matter who the nominee is, we will soon have to band together to win the race. We all know that we can’t let Trump win this so maybe it’s time to close the age gap.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)