The 2008 Presidential election was one that rewrote history. The United States of America had together elected the first African American to hold the highest seat in the land. As a republic founded on democratic principles it is understandable to hear the opinions of unhappy voters. However, in 2012 the people of the United States had decided again and elected Barack Obama to a second term in the oval office. Many Republicans complained about reverse racism, the idea that minorities would vote for a minority to take office, but regardless of motives, Obama is once again president. In this blog post I will take a look at how the minority vote actually affected the 2012 election.
To begin it is important to look at how the shift in voting eligibility for certain demographics has changed. Since the 2004 election, between Republican candidate and current President George W. Bush vs. Democratic candidate John Kerry, white eligibility for the election has decreased by nearly 5% which has been acquired by minorities such as hispanics and blacks. The eligibility to vote affects how many individuals from a certain demographic can vote which is crucial to examine if we are looking at an election that was supposedly based on race.
However, if we take a look at the turnout rates per demographic we see that for the first time there was a larger black turnout to the polling station over any other demographic (see chart below).
This is an interesting statistic because it is the first time in history that the black vote percentage surpassed the white vote percentage. In 1868 and 1870 when the 14th and 15th amendments had been passed, blacks had been subjected to fear and their inalienable right had been taken away from them. These fear tactics and racism prevented proper results. In 1965, when the Voting Rights Act was signed, was when voting equality was mandated, but that didn't prevent some regions from continuing their racist tactics.
Back to the 2012 election, 81% of whites voted for Obama because they felt a connection to Obama from a working class position. 93% of African Americans voted for Obama and although many say it is due to race it can be contributed to loyalty to the democratic party since 88% voted for Kerry in 2004. 71% of Latinos voted for Obama because of their agreement with Obamacare and the President's stance on undocumented immigrants.
As we head into mid-term elections next month, we will start to see how congress shapes up and the race for President will commence shortly after. Individuals will begin to announce their candidacy and the people of the US will back their personal favorite. We will see how race continues to potentially affect the elections. Interestingly enough, Asian-Americans are presumed to make a big difference in the upcoming 2016 election. No one can make an accurate prediction now but only time will tell.
I'm glad you talked about percentages of racial representation here. As the US census shows only roughly half of the eligible population actually votes that means that a presidential election is only determined by roughly half of the voters that it could be. Because of this the increase in voter numbers seen in the 2008 election are hugely significant for voter representation of minority groups.
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