At the nadir of his fight for the 2020 Democratic nomination, President Joe Biden’s campaign relied on Black voters to provide the spark that turned things around. As he heads into the summer facing an uphill climb to be re-elected, the president’s campaign is working overtime to ensure that what was once a political lifeline remains by his side.
The groundwork has been laid for months by campaign leadership, who say reaching out to black voters cannot be left to just the final months of the campaign.
But on Friday, Biden kicked off a series of public speeches increasing his direct address to Black voters, which plays on voters’ short- and long-term memories, emphasizing his long history and relationships with the community and the way he says he kept the promises he made to them four years ago.
“When we make the promise of America a reality for all Americans, the nation changes for the better,” Biden said at a public commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Wade. .
Biden’s approach also includes stark warnings about what is at risk if Donald Trump returns to the White House, as he called his Republican opponent on Friday as having revived “insidious” efforts to impede the promotion of equality and inclusion.
“My predecessor and his MAGA extremist friends are responsible for taking away other fundamental freedoms, from the freedom to vote to the freedom to choose. But I have always believed that the promise of America is great enough for everyone to succeed,” he said.
Biden was also scheduled to meet Friday with leaders of the so-called “Divine Nine,” a group of prominent Black fraternities and sororities. On Sunday, he will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically black university, before traveling to Detroit to speak at the NAACP’s Freedom Fund dinner.
This weekend’s back-to-back events, in cities where black turnout will be critical to winning two of the closest battleground states, reflect the campaign’s belief that black voters cannot be considered just a turnout demographic, but demand sustained engagement – and persuasion.
“You have to make time. You have to show up,” Quentin Fulks, Biden’s chief deputy campaign manager, said in an interview. “It’s just a continuation of doubling down and making sure we’re doing the work with communities across the country that we need to show ourselves and we’re not taking anything for granted.”
The NBC News poll shows the challenge Biden faces. Although Biden led Trump 71% to 13% among black voters in an April poll, the margin is narrow from the 87-12 advantage in exit polls four years ago.
More worrying for Biden is what appears to be diminished enthusiasm — 59% of Black voters said they had a strong interest in the 2024 election, compared with 74% who said the same four years ago at a similar point in the race.
Biden’s allies downplayed the concern, while underlining what was at stake.
“I don’t accept the premise that there is any erosion of black support,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told reporters Thursday after a meeting with Biden, saying public polls have proven to be unreliable.
“What I believe is that we are in a crisis of our democracy. We must decide whether or not we will have a functioning democracy that is representative of all citizens or something less than that,” she added. “I hope the American public recognizes the importance of our democracy.”
Biden’s increased outreach comes ahead of a significant milestone — the fourth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. As the 2020 general election began, public outcry sparked calls, especially from minority communities, for criminal justice and police reforms, many of which Biden embraced.
The White House declined to predict whether and how Biden might celebrate that anniversary this year. Biden continued to call on Congress to enact the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
“No president has done more for black America in modern history than Joe Biden,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told reporters this week. “There is certainly more work to do, but we will compare Joe Biden’s record of accomplishments with his vision for the future when it comes to Black America versus Donald Trump’s record, his rhetoric and his plans any day of the week. ”
Biden campaign officials point to traditional physical campaign efforts, including open campaign offices in minority communities, with new technology-driven efforts to reach and communicate directly with voters. The campaign also says Biden has done more interviews with black media outlets and interviewers than any other outlet, including one with Atlanta radio host Big Tigger before Morehouse’s graduation.
It also means showing up at big local festivals and events — or even organizing your own, as the campaign did in Wisconsin with its own bingo or bowling nights, designed to be soft touches rather than hard sells.
Most of voter interaction with the campaign will come, the campaign hopes, from an army of volunteers and organizers who are implementing a new strategy built around leveraging the power of personal relationships and networks. It’s particularly critical, officials say, at a time when many voters, including voters of color, are reluctant or even resistant to getting involved in elections.
“We believe that if you can go out and persuade strangers, then we believe you can too – and will also be the most effective person at persuading everyone you know,” said Fulks, noting the importance of this new approach in an increasingly social environment. fragmented media.
A volunteer organizer in Wisconsin, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged this concern when speaking to a young black voter who echoed what she describes as conservative rhetoric on immigration. Throughout the individual conversation, “I managed to reach, I believe, a point where he was really thinking about his position”.
“Being able to influence him made me think, ‘Okay, this could be a vote in the future,’” she said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
