Obama appears on Tom Joyner radio show, tries to reassure African American listeners

I have my ideas on this, but I'll just excerpt this posting from the Washington Post just to show you what's going on here:

“It’s always important to remember that when Dr. King gave the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, that was a march for jobs and justice, not just justice,” Obama said during the interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. “And the last part of his life, when he went down to Memphis, that was all about sanitation workers saying, ‘I am a man,’ and then looking for economic justice and dealing with poverty.

“It’s not enough for us to just remember the sanitized version of what Dr. King stood for,” the president added.

Obama’s remarks were part of an effort by his administration to remind black voters that the country’s first black president is fighting for them, even if he is not heeding the demands of some black lawmakers and crafting policies specifically aimed at boosting struggling African-American communities. Blacks remain Obama’s staunchest base – giving him 90-percemt-plus approval ratings – but some Democrats worry that worsening economic conditions in that community might hamper Obama’s efforts in next year’s reelection campaign to mobilize the mass African-American turnout he needs to win.

Black unemployment stands at 15.9 percent – far higher than the 9.1-percent overall rate.

Tension between Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus is not new, but in recent weeks caucus members have traveled the country holding jobs fairs and town halls designed to put public pressure on the White House to address black joblessness as part of the plan Obama will announce next week.

The president offered no hints Tuesday as to what, if any, of his ideas might offer targeted help to blacks.

I used to think that Blacks were so crazy about Bill Clinton even in the years after he had left office that they would vote in Hillary. Then someway, somehow Obama comes in to win the nomination and the Presidency. I'm not sure how that happened. It could be that Obama was a fresh face.

I still remember interviews with elderly Black people overcome with emotion at the first Black President being elected and eventually inaugurated. I'm sure that if Blacks haven't left Obama in droves that some of that is actually going on.

That being said it was noted by another political writer in making the comments about Clinton on his blog, that the Black vote tends to break late. They take a while to make up their minds as I would interpret that. So they may have went back in forth in deciding between Obama and Hillary Clinton.

So I will say this. I can be wrong, but what if the Black vote may see the writing on the wall with Obama and may neglect to even turn out in 2012 for him. I know many can't even imagine sitting home from the polls. Besides our history shows that we were denied our right as American citizens to vote in elections. Still for those who will choose to vote next year, I can't see blacks voting in drove for the eventual Republican nominee for President.

It's going to be fun speculating what's going to happen next year! This is going to be a serious race, I feel it!