The upcoming presidential campaign offers Democrats a critical test: Can they ever again rely on the multiracial coalition that helped propel Obama to the White House twice?
In this July 23, 2019, photo, auto repairman Terrance Holmes is interviewed in Detroit. When Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, there was no question that Holmes would vote for the first black president. But as he helped fix cars at a repair shop on Detroit's west side, he recalled his ambivalence about the 2016 campaign. He hasn't paid much attention to the early Democratic primary and didn't know that two high-profile black candidates are running.
The 34-year-old feels differently now as another election season begins. He hasn’t paid much attention to But nationally, the African American turnout rate dropped 7 percentage points in 2016 from its record high during Obama’s 2012 reelection, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Other groups did not see a comparable decrease — white turnout increased slightly while Latinos held steady.
Democrats insist they’ll reverse the decline in 2020. They’re already spending significant time in Michigan, holdingnext week in Detroit. Many candidates were in town on Wednesday to address the NAACP’s annual convention, where they outlined their agendas for black communities.
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