Democrats' hold on the black vote looks precarious

Miranda Devine:

The dirty little secret about wokeness is its lack of diversity. It’s a movement entirely comprising of white, college-educated progressives.

Therein lies the problem for the Democratic Party as it lurches left. It has wedged itself between the demands of an aggressively woke left flank and the more socially conservative, more religious black community. Since the party needs 85 percent of the black vote to win power, that’s a problem with lethal political consequences.

Which is why Democrats are nervous about President Trump’s embryonic popularity with African Americans, after he won just 8 percent of the black vote in 2016.

You can see the seeds in rising poll numbers, with one Rasmussen poll last year placing the president’s approval rating among black Americans at 36 percent. It was quickly dismissed as an outlier, but other polls since have confirmed a smaller upward trajectory.

The NAACP’s own poll in August showed Trump’s approval rating at 21 percent.

At rallies, Trump waxes lyrical about all he’s done for the black community: a record low black unemployment rate, “opportunity zones” bringing investment to poor cities, criminal-justice reform and his tough stance on illegal immigration.

But the red-pill phenomenon in black America is most visible in the rise of charismatic cultural leaders such as the conservative firebrand Candace Owens.

This Sunday, at a rally in Atlanta, you will see the power of the movement Owens has founded, Blexit.

Blexit means the exit by black Americans from a Democratic Party that takes their vote for granted.

“It’s an exit from political orthodoxy and from the left, which bases your worth on your skin color, sex and sexual orientation,” she says.

Her goal is to turn Blexit into a grass-roots political force. “Twenty points by 2020 is the dream.”
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That dream could be within reach.  Owens has been a terrific spokesman for her movement and has taken on the liberal establishment.