Black Turnout Could Be Key in Ohio

This video from the AP discusses black voter turnout in Ohio.

This could be key for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s chances to win this state in November.

In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry got “only” 84% of the black vote in Ohio; meanwhile, he got 88% of the African American vote nation wide. Kerry wound up losing in Ohio by just two points (Kerry got 48.7% of the overall Ohio vote, versus 50.8% for Republican presidential candidate George Bush).

Had he won Ohio, Kerry would have been elected president.

Obama will certainly get more than 84% of the black vote in Ohio, and an expected increase in black voter turnout will also help him.

It remains to be seen if that will be enough for Obama to win this state. Kerry lost the Ohio white vote in 2004; Obama will undoubtedly lose the Ohio white vote this year. So Obama will need a good showing among black voters to get a “W” there for this election.

And needless to say, Obama will hope that this year, there won’t be any issues with counting ballots. We’ll see.

And see this post for a brief note on black mayors in Ohio.