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The Role Of African-American Voters In The Democratic Party Primaries
The Democratic party presidential primaries have produced an enigmatic phenomenon. The voting patterns of the African-American vote in the Democratic primaries suggest an important and sociologically interesting finding which is worthy of attention and study.
In predominantly white electorate states (where the African-American electorate is less than 5 percent) such as Iowa and Wisconsin, Senator Obama has drawn large percentage of the White electorate votes — large enough (more than 40 percentage of the votes) to win those primary elections handily.
Similarly, in primaries with very large African-American electorate (20 percent and more) and even larger African-American vote participation (25 percent and more) such as South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, Senator Obama again has won handily — but this time with significantly smaller share (less than 30 percent) of the participating white votes and overwhelming support from very large percentage from the African-American votes. The participation of the African-American electorate in these states was over 40 percent.
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The Democratic Party
In the early 1770′s there were political factions that opposed Alexander Hamilton’s fiscal policies during his presidency. The Federal Party under Hamilton advocated a strong central government and a loose interpetation of the U.S. Constitution with the the belief that the government should be lead by the wealthy and elite class. The factions opposing these policies were known as the Anti-Administration Party and the Anti- Federalists. It wasn’t until the mid 1790′s that Thomas Jefferson together with James Madison organized these factions into the Democrat-Republican Party. Their philosophies and beliefs favored the common individual. Their focus was on a strict following of the constitution and a weaker federal government. This new party was also known as Jeffersonian Democracy.
It was in1796 that Thomas Jefferson ran for the presidency representing the Democrat-Republican Party with Aaron Burr as his vice presidential running mate. The election for president was won by the opposing Federalist party’s John Adams. Jefferson came in second with the electorial votes which gave him the vice president’s job. This was the beginning of the Democratic Party, the People’s Party as it was called.
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The Changing Political Campaign Face of the Democratic Party
The Democratic Party had been shaped by President Martin Van Buren but was transformed by events in the nation and by Andrew Jackson’s popularity with the voters. Whereas once congressional caucuses had played a key role in choosing the political candidate, the national convention had assumed that function, and not only national but also state politicians now played an important role in political campaigns.
Under Jackson, the Democratic Party had become, in a sense, a party that had achieved success because of the president’s willingness to divide Americans during the political campaign. Jackson drew a distinction between the wealthy and the poor, the laborers and the business owners, and even divided Southerners and Westerners from those in the East.
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