Obama snubs Black Caucus

If you were to believe that Sen. Obama is having trouble maybe not within Black America in general, but with prominent blacks in particular. Prominent blacks or I guess I could say "black leadership" or I can point specifically to the members of the Congressional Black Caucus. This news is from The Hill...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has failed to raise money for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) even though it has been a year since he was asked to, and his main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination has done so, CBC members say.

CBC leaders asked Obama to hold a fundraiser for the caucus’s political action committee (PAC) a year ago but they have slim hopes that he will come through for them.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Obama’s chief rival for the nomination, held a fundraiser for the PAC in March last year at the home of Dan Leeds, a Washington venture capitalist.

Clinton’s husband has also agreed to use his fundraising clout to help the CBC. At the end of June, former President Bill Clinton will chair a charity golf and tennis tournament organized by the spouses of Black Caucus members. The event will raise money for college scholarships.

Another one-time Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.), also responded to the caucus’s request to raise money for its PAC; he hosted a Capitol Hill event in February 2006.

Obama’s failure to match Clinton is significant because both are battling for support among black Democrats in the run-up to next year’s primaries. In South Carolina, for instance, the second primary in the nation, African-American voters are expected to make up about half of Democratic voters.

The support of Black Caucus members in the House could make a difference next year because they represent millions of African-American voters around the country.

This is not to say he won't. He's running for president now and that might make having a fundraiser difficult. It's still worth doing especially if the clout of the CBC is as important as it seems to be.