Ohio Black Voters: Can The GOP Afford To Keep Ignoring Black Voters?

As the louder members of the right wing media continue to stumble over the reality that Mitt Romney lost his quest for the presidency, concrete data explaining his loss continues to come out. While there are number of variables –  i.e. Blacks, single women, Latinos, and gays going out for Obama in droves — regarding the highly contested state of Ohio, it is evident that the Black vote in particular played a deciding factor in President Barack Obama winning the state, and consequently, re-election. Better luck next time, voter suppression.

SEE ALSO: Jon Stewart: Obama’s Win Caused An ‘Avalanche On Fox’s Bullsh*t Mountain!’

LUKE FRANS of Resurgent Republic’s fascinating analysis of Ohio exit polling: 

Romney won the White vote 58-41 (2008: John McCain won 52-46). Romney won White men 63-36 (2008: McCain won 53-45). Romney won White women at about the same margin as four years ago, 53-46. But the White vote overall was 79 percent of the turnout, down 4 points from 2008 (White men: 3 points; White women: 1 point). The Ohio population is about 84 percent white. Ohio has a low percentage of Hispanic population (3 percent) compared to the national average (17%) and the exit polling had the Hispanic vote at 3 percent, a 1-point decrease from 2008.

Obama made up the margin by turning out the African-American vote, which increased from 11 percent in 2008 to 15 percent yesterday. He won these voters 96-4 and the higher turnout more than made up for any slight movement from his 2008 97-2 margin. What’s more notable, African Americans make up 12 percent of the Ohio population, but they represented a higher share of the electorate yesterday. …

“This resulted in a +8 Democratic turnout advantage in the state. And it’s difficult to overcome that margin, even considering that Romney won independents by 10 points (53-43) — which is a net 18-point swing away from Obama since 2008. … If African American turnout was in line with 2008, Romney would have won Ohio. That’s how both sides truly believed they were narrowly winning Ohio on Election Day.”

In an article entitled “The Case of the Missing White Voters,” Real Clear Politics writer Sean Trende examines potential causes for some White voters sitting out this election, though ultimately the larger problem for the GOP is that this influx of minority participation at the polls will only increase with time. Such circumstances beg the question of whether or not Republicans will try to make a genuine effort to slash the lion’s share of Black support the Democrats have enjoyed for decades.

Thus far, the discussions about the need for Republicans to reach out to minority voters has been primarily centered on breaking the growing grip the Democrats have on Latinos and Asians. Why not us, though? I know we’re not the new kids, but I’m sure some Black people might entertain Republicans if they said, “Hey, I’d like to tell you why you should vote for me,” versus doing everything in their power to make sure we can’t vote at all.

Granted, I’d rather write in Nicki Minaj and her alter ego “Roman Zolanksi’s names for president and VP before ever voting for a member of the Dumbo party, but there’s got to be some other Negroes out there willing to give the Grand Old Party more of a shot.

It would behoove Republicans to start contemplating ways to make that happen because even if they do manage to sucker a bunch of Latinos in to supporting them, that still wouldn’t be all of America. And isn’t it time both parties start looking like the country as it is?

Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer and blogger. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick

Black Voters Made Lasting Impact On Historic Election  was originally published on ionenewsone.staging.go.ione.nyc