Black voters could tip Florida for Joe Biden

Democrats and Republicans agree on a key strategic question in the final days of the Joe Biden-Donald Trump presidential race: The winner could depend on how many Black voters are energized by Biden.

How important are Florida’s African American and Caribbean American voters?

• Running behind schedule, Biden went ahead with the unpublicized but strategically important visit Thursday to Sistrunk Boulevard, the historic main street of the Black community in northwest Fort Lauderdale. He made the stop even though his plane was waiting to take him to a rally in Tampa.
• On the final Saturday of the campaign, when time is the candidates' most precious commodity, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will make stops in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. A central mission of the first Black candidate on a major party ticket is ginning up Black voter turnout on the final week of early voting.

Increasing turnout

There’s no doubt the overwhelming majority of Black voters will cast ballots for Biden. Public opinion polls and political strategists figure he’ll get the votes from about nine out of every 10 Black voters.

“The vast majority will vote for Biden. I don’t have a doubt about that," said Rudy Jean-Bart, a professor of American history and African American history at Broward College. "For many, it’s more about Donald Trump than Joe Biden. I think people of color, Black people in particular, are frightened by the prospect of another four years of Donald Trump.”

Read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/elections/fl-ne-biden-black-voters-presidential-race-20201030-zqwslss36bftpi56nz7xu4h2fi-story.html
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)