U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton courted the critical black vote on Tuesday as she met with civil rights leaders in New York and promised in a speech to tackle "very real barriers" confronting
African-Americans.
Clinton is seeking to maintain her lead among black voters over U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her rival for the Democratic nomination for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democrat Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president.
The Clinton campaign said last week: "It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a Democrat to win the nomination without strong levels of support among African-American and Hispanic voters."
Clinton's status as the Democratic front-runner was jolted this month when the former secretary of state beat Sanders by less than a percentage point in Iowa's caucuses and lost to him by more than 20 points in the New Hampshire primary. More than 90 percent of people in those states are white.
Clinton met for more than two hours on Tuesday with a half-dozen civil rights leaders at the New York headquarters of the National Urban League.
"I thought that the secretary demonstrated an ease and familiarity with many of the issues we discussed this morning," National Urban League President Marc Morial said afterward.
The Rev. Al Sharpton joked with Clinton in the corridors afterward, suggesting to reporters he had told her which candidate he would endorse.
"My lips are sealed!" Clinton, who did not take any media questions, replied with a smile.
At a news conference later, Sharpton said Clinton was "candid and open," but he added he had yet to decide who to support and that no candidate should take the support of black voters for granted. "We are not a monolithic people," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment