Who’s Reaching Black Voters?

St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay recently suggested Republican Sen. Jim Talent may be doing a better job than his Democratic challenger, Claire McCaskill, of addressing African-American campaign issues.

From a story in Sunday’s U.S. News & World Report:

But some Democratic candidates are facing their own base motivation problems, with recent polls showing lower-than-normal black support for Democratic Senate candidates like Missouri’s McCaskill, who wasn’t cracking 50 percent black support in a poll earlier this month. Other polls show African-Americans more likely than whites to doubt that their votes will be counted because of voting controversies in recent years.

“I hear Talent really trying to address some issues near and dear to the African community,” says St. Louis Rep. William Lacy Clay, a Democrat. “I don’t hear the same drumbeat from the McCaskill camp.”

While acknowledging McCaskill’s ties to the black community, St. Louis NAACP Vice President Claude Brown says Talent “has done a tremendous job recruiting African-Americans.” But, he adds, “people are really angry. If nothing else gets African-Americans to the polls, it’s anger.” If that’s still not enough, perhaps a call from one of the two parties will do the trick.