by Last night, Obama spoke at the annual awards dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus, addressing an increasingly annoyed group of black leaders who say that he hasn’t done enough lately for black unemployment.
Reaction to Black Unemployment Rate
Recognizing that the black unemployment rate is nearly double that of the national average, Obama said, “It gets folks discouraged. I know. I listen to some of y’all.” He asked the 3000 person crowd to help him with his re-election bid. He also encouraged them to keep trying and to
“Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your maching shoes.” He continued by saying, “Shake it off. Stop complainin’. Stop grumblin’. Stop cryin’. We are going to press on. We have work to do.”
Change in Black Vote
Obama certain has his work cut out for him trying to motivate the black vote in America. Blacks turned out in large numbers to help him get elected in 2008; two years later, there was quite a sharp drop, when only 37-40% of the voters turned out as compared to 65% in 2008.Obama is now heading to the West Coast to raise money in Seattle and San Francisco. Obama will be holding a town meeting at the California headquarters of LinkedIn, before he heads for fundraisers in San Diego and Los Angeles.
