Rise in Black turnout could hurt Bush

Black leaders are predicting a higher turnout among African-Americans in November's presidential election, a factor that could prove crucial in tipping the race in favour of John Kerry. One group, Hip Hop Summit Action, is boasting it has persuaded an additional 2 million blacks to register to vote. The Kerry campaign is, meanwhile, turning to a new superstar in the Democratic Party to boost turnout numbers. He is Barack Obama, the Illinois state senator who wowed the party's Boston convention in July with his keynote speech. Mr Obama is so far ahead in his bid to capture a US Senate seat that he is increasingly switching his time and dollars to campaigning for Mr Kerry. While Mr Kerry struggles to connect with the black community in the way former president Bill Clinton was able to, several factors suggest that his support from African-Americans may be very high. Above all, there is the memory of 2000 when thousands of blacks found themselves unable to vote because of balloting foul-ups. "Given the fact that there is a strong anti-Bush sentiment in the black community and what happened in 2000 with questions about black votes not being counted in Florida, you have the ingredients for a larger black turnout," argued Bruce Ransom, a political science professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. [more ]