Black voters

Congressional Quarterly has a nice long piece about Senator Richard Burr. It's a little odd. They start out singing his praises about his support within the African American community.

Sen. Richard M. Burr has opened his ears — and his earmarks — to African-American causes.

Though only 12 percent of his votes came from black constituents in 2004, the North Carolina Republican’s attention to that segment of the electorate could pay dividends in 2010 — either by lowering intensity of black opposition to him or by showing white voters that Burr can work across political and racial spectrums.

It is the kind of political legwork that might make a subtle but significant difference in a close race.

South Carolina voters rejected the politics of division in a historic Democratic turnout. Despite the Clintons’ plan to put Obama in a black box, his strengths among white voters and independents helped him win a bi-racial landslide.

(For information on volunteering in the Triangle for the Obama campaign, visit the Triangle for Obama Meetup Group or contact Carolyn Cameron @ (919) 321-2665 / carolyn-cameron@hotmail.com.)

We ended up in Columbia, S.C. one weekend in December, volunteering at Obama’s South Carolina headquarters by canvassing and phonebanking likely voters. What we witnessed explains why the last obstacles to a tidal wave of support for Obama among black voters in South Carolina are now being swept away.