Dem
51
GOP
49
Joe Biden and the Democrats are aware that Black men are very disillusioned with them, in contrast to Black women, who are the Democrats' most loyal demographic group. In places like central Detroit, whole blocks that once had houses and thriving small businesses now lie in waste and have been like that for years. Every 4 years Democratic campaign workers come around and promise to fix the problem but they never do. Black men are tired of all promises and no action, and many of them are talking about not voting in November. This scares the hell out of the Democrats.
A recent Siena College poll of six battleground states, including Michigan, shows that 71% of Black men will support Biden and 22% will support Donald Trump. The rest are undecided or won't vote at all. Among Black women, only 4% will vote for Trump. It's definitely a man problem. The Biden campaign is going to attack the problem with a $25 million ad campaign in the swing states on media popular with Black and Latino men. Among other points, the ads will note:
Many Black men are very disappointed that Biden failed to pass a bill forcing police reform and also failed to pass a new Voting Rights Act. They don't want to hear that he didn't have the votes in the Senate or that the Republicans would have filibustered it if he had.
Some Black men feel that Biden is shortchanging them in favor of other groups. Many of them think that Biden favors Asians or Latinos or women or some other group rather than Black men. They feel Biden is taking them for granted. Others don't like what Trump did as president, but feel he tells it like it is. Trump also gets credit with Black men for the stimulus payments during the COVID pandemic. They say he was passing out free money to them. They also say that he never made promises he couldn't keep.
Trump is also exploiting his 91 indictments to get street cred with Black men. He is saying: "The Democrats are coming after me, just like they come after you. I know what you are feeling."
Another sore point with some Black men is Ukraine. They complain that Biden can send $800 million to Ukraine but can't cancel student loans or end homelessness in America. What this line of thinking misses is that 90% of the Ukraine money is actually spent in America, in factories that make the weapons and ammo Ukraine is getting. This translates into good-paying jobs for Americans working in defense plants.
The situation isn't hopeless for Biden. One thing he could do is try to work through Black women, who strongly support him. He could try to get them to talk to their boyfriends, husbands, sons, and fathers, and explain what Biden has done for the Black community and how Trump despises them. It is clearly a struggle, but Biden is at least aware of the problem. (V)