XPost: alt.culture.african.american.history, alt.society.liberalism,   
   alt.radio.talk.dr-laura   
   XPost: can.politics   
   From: theliar@dont-email.me   
      
   WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is turning to black   
   radio listeners to plead for midterm votes, a targeted approach   
   to drum up Democratic support at a time when many candidates   
   don't want him around in person.   
      
   African-American turnout will be vital to Democrats' hopes in   
   states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and North Carolina   
   that will help determine control of the Senate. And Obama   
   remains beloved among black voters even if Democratic candidates   
   in those races are running away from him amid the president's   
   low overall approval ratings.   
      
   "This isn't about my feelings being hurt," Obama told the Rev.   
   Al Sharpton in one of seven nationally syndicated interviews   
   he's conducted the past week. "These are folks who are strong   
   allies and supporters of me. I tell them, I said, 'You do what   
   you need to do to win. I will be responsible for making sure   
   that our voters turn out.' "   
      
   That's a big responsibility to take on in a midterm. Census   
   figures show that in recent congressional election years, around   
   4 in 10 black adults turn out to vote. In recent presidential   
   election years, a majority of black adults reported voting,   
   including more than 6 in 10 in 2008 and 2012. White voters   
   traditionally voted in larger percentages than blacks in both   
   midterm and presidential elections, but in the past two   
   presidential elections black turnout was higher — which Obama   
   pointed out was what helped put him in office.   
      
   "We do not vote unfortunately in midterm elections as high a   
   rate as we do during presidential elections," Obama explained on   
   the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, hosted by a comedian known for   
   his prank phone calls. "I'll bet there are whole bunch of folks   
   listening to your show who may not even know that there's an   
   election going on. I need everybody to go vote."   
      
   An Associated Press-GfK poll out Tuesday found Obama has an 85   
   percent approval rating among black voters, versus 34 percent of   
   whites. The White House said the president and first lady   
   Michelle Obama plan to do more radio interviews aimed at black   
   listeners in the final two weeks of the campaign. Obama also has   
   been doing web videos, mailings and recorded calls targeted at   
   black voters in key races, although the White House declined to   
   say which ones.   
      
   The efforts indicate that even if Democratic candidates think   
   Obama would do more harm than good by appearing at a rally, they   
   are eager to have his help reaching black voters.   
      
   The Democratic National Committee is using Obama's popularity   
   among blacks in a seven-figure advertising campaign targeted at   
   minorities and young voters. An ad targeted for black newspapers   
   reads "GET HIS BACK" in large letters over a picture of Obama   
   and urges readers to stand with the president by voting for   
   Democrats. In a DNC commercial airing on radio stations popular   
   among black listeners, an Obama speech touting his economic   
   agenda is set to jazz and ends with a voiceover urging listeners   
   "to stand up for our community and vote Nov. 4."   
      
   Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said a challenge for   
   Democrats this election is that many of the most hard-fought   
   races are in Republican-leaning states where Obama didn't   
   compete in 2008 or 2012, so his campaign did not engage core   
   voters. "In the closing weeks of just about every campaign that   
   I've been involved in since the late 1970s, people worry about   
   the black vote in the last two weeks," she said. "The problem   
   with the two-week strategy is that it doesn't give you the kind   
   of turnout you need."   
      
   Obama argues in the interviews that low black turnout in the   
   2010 midterms allowed the GOP tea party wave in Congress that   
   has been blocking his agenda. The pitch is part solicitation for   
   votes, part lecture to blacks for staying home in midterm   
   elections when the president is not on the ballot.   
      
   Obama said Republican officials in some states are pushing   
   legislation to make it harder to vote, but said that can't be an   
   excuse for low turnout. "You can't complain about, 'Oh they are   
   trying to mess with us or trying to take away our vote,' but   
   then half of us or more don't even bother to try to vote," he   
   said on the Yolanda Adams Morning Show.   
      
   Obama told a predominantly black audience in Upper Marlboro,   
   Maryland, on Sunday that the election "will be a done deal if   
   you vote" and get friends and family to vote as well.   
      
   "You've got to get that cousin Pookie sitting at home on the   
   couch," Obama said to laughter. "He's watching football right   
   now instead of being here at the rally. You've got to talk to   
   him and let him know it is not that hard to exercise the   
   franchise that previous generations fought so hard to obtain."   
      
   http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Obama-pitches-for-   
   votes-on-black-radio-5837791.php   
      
         
      
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