… The lesson to take from what we know about why black voting is steadfastly Democratic in general elections, and to apply to the primaries, is that candidates seeking to consolidate bloc-like support from black voters have a twofold job. First, without party identification as a shortcut for political decision-making, the candidates have to prove to black voters that they have unique claim to the likelihood that they will represent the interests of the black community. Second, they need to show that they can deliver on the black community’s understood interest in beating the Republican, particularly President Trump, in the general election. CONT.
Chryl N. Laird (Bowdoin) & Ismail K. White (Duke), Washington Post