By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--September 19, 2016
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“We have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community. I will consider it a personal insult and an insult to my legacy if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election," he said. "You want to give me a good send-off? Go vote." Obama's reelection in 2012 marked a record turnout for black voters, and 93 percent of them backed Obama over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, according to exit polls. A recent Washington Post report gave Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, an 80 percent lead over GOP nominee Donald Trump among black voters But Obama warned the audience to not sit back.
"If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake. All the progress we’ve made is at stake in this election. "My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Good schools are on the ballot. Ending mass incarceration, that's on the ballot right now," he said. "And there is one candidate who will advance those things, and there is another candidate whose defining principle, the central theme of his candidacy, is opposition to all that we’ve done. There's no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter; it all matters."In her keynote address at the dinner, Clinton similarly presented herself as a way to carry on Obama's legacy while warning against a Trump presidency without mentioning him by name. So not only did Obama make it all about Obama and not about Hillary at all, but when Hillary took the stage, she did the same. Apparently even she is figuring out that no one is enthusiastic about electing her. But back to Obama: The nature of his appeal here demonstrates that he recognizes black voters feel a certain tribal loyalty to him, one that often takes precedent over very real differences. A lot of black voters, especially those in the black church community, do not agree with Obama's stands on things like gay marriage, abortion and transgenderism. Many of them even recognize that Obama is outwardly hostile toward Christianity, his self-identification as a Christian notwithstanding.
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