For the Democratic candidates facing the South Carolina primary (Saturday February 27), the key voting block is African Americans.
The majority of Democrat voters are African-American in South Carolina and a new CNN/ORC poll shows Hillary Clinton has the backing of 65 percent of black voters compared to Bernie Sanders 28 percent.
Our U.S. correspondent Priscilla Huff reports:
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Ben's Chilli Bowl is a Washington institution
where politics is on the menu:
along with the chili dog Marshall Brown is having for lunch
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"I've seen the first African American become president and now god has blessed me to see the first female to become president, and she's not just a female becoming president, she's a Clinton who has a long deep history particularly with African American and Americans period".
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Marshall Brown is African American
a community that had strong support for U.S. President Bill Clinton,
His wife, hillary Clinton wants to build on that.
She's won the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus, in part, because as Georgory Meeks of the group's Political Action Committee says, She's endorsed what U-S president Barack Obama has accomplished.
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(SUPER: Gregory Meeks, chair of the CBC political action committee)
"She will continue the legacy of President Obama, she will be looking to build upon that, she has not been critical of Mr Obama as Mr sanders has been in the past so that's clear, President Obama had confidence in Hillary Clinton, that's why he selected her to be her Secretary of State".
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With the focus in South Carolina
on how African American democrats will vote
Hillary Clinton is campaigning with the parents of slain African American young men
to demonstrate how she understands their issues.
She's faced some criticism on the campaign trail, but she's sticking to her message.
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"And I am absolutely determined that together we will get justice. We will reform the criminal justice system. We will provide accountability for those in positions of power and responsibility."
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The two democratic candidates share some common-policy ground on issues such as incarceration rates involving black men and gun violence,
But ahead of the critical South Carolina primary Bernie Sanders is enlisting his own support from the African American community,
including famed filmmaker Spike Lee
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Bernie Sanders triumphed in New Hampshire, but came up short in Nevada,
For Dr. Clarence Lusane, Professor of Political Science at Howard University, which is one of America's historically black univeresity's and colleges.
the challenge for the Vermont Senator is to win
a state where more than half the electorate are black...
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"That's his major challenge, really convincing people in general and the black community that if he does become president there will be a means by which he can actually achieve some of the things he's talking about"
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Nationally - African Americans make up about 13 percent of the overall population and are far more likely to vote Democrat.
And
Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders need momentum
Super Tuesday voting starts two days after the South Carolina Primary
and a win in South Carolina could prove a decisive boost
For a campaign that will need the support of African American voters to win in November.
Priscilla Huff, Washington.
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