Subject: The Importance of the African American Vote
From: Alexandria Phillips <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 10:10:15 -0500
List-Id: <toptalkers.hillaryclinton.com>

*TO*: Interested Parties

*FROM*: Marlon Marshall, Director of State Campaigns and Political
Engagement;

Maya Harris, Senior Policy Advisor; and

LaDavia Drane, African American Outreach Director

*RE*: The Importance of the African American Vote

Over recent weeks and months, Hillary Clinton and senior staff have
traveled the country to the early states and beyond to energize and earn
the support of the African American community.

The campaign spent the first few months building a strong organization in
key states and talking to voters, clergy, mayors, local leaders and
stakeholders about the hard truths that face our country and what Hillary
Clinton can do to strengthen our economy, make college more affordable, and
end an era of mass incarceration.

With Hillary Clinton’s focus on policies that impact African American
families across the country, and our campaign’s outreach and organization
efforts, we are in a strong position to be successful in key states where
the African American vote is critical to winning the primary and the
general election.

*Organizing and Earning the Vote of the African American Community*

At Hillary’s direction, our campaign has focused on working to earn the
support of the entire community. That is why, since day one, we have built
a volunteer base in Super Tuesday and March primary states, including Ohio,
Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Georgia, that is aimed
at finding voters where they are. Whether it’s places of worship, community
centers or online (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), our staff and
volunteers have been on the ground to engage communities ahead of the
upcoming primaries. The campaign has also held a number of organizing
events, including at barber shops, and will continue to find ways to engage
voters wherever they are.

Hillary’s recent campaign events before predominantly African American
audiences in some of these states have been met with overwhelming
enthusiasm and interest.

Since the start of the campaign, we have invested in the early four states,
including South Carolina where we have contacted 142,500 voters and have
held 1,100 organizing events.  The African American community is expected
to be the majority of the turnout in South Carolina.

Hillary will continue to travel to March states and HBCUs, and meet with
voters, leaders and clergy in order to gain their support and build on the
momentum the campaign is seeing as a result of these investments in the
community.

*Public Polling*

Nationally, multiple polls have shown Hillary with very large leads among
African Americans in the primary, underscoring her strong support and
proving that her message resonates with the community. These polls include:

·         The NBC poll (Oct. 16) found Hillary leading Bernie Sanders 62-8
among African Americans.

·         A Morning Consult poll (Sept. 8) similarly showed Hillary with
59% support among African Americans.

In South Carolina, where African Americans represent a majority of the
Democratic primary electorate, Hillary has had strong double-digit leads in
public polls:

·         A CNN/ORC poll released on Oct. 10 found Hillary leading 70-20 in
South Carolina.

·         In the two other South Carolina polls that have been released in
the last two weeks, Hillary leads by an average of 40 points.

Hillary is strong in these polls because of her popularity among African
Americans. A September PPP poll found she had a net favorability rating of
+68 (78-10).

*Key Endorsements*

Leaders throughout the country have thrown their support behind Hillary
Clinton, noting she is a fighter for our community and a progressive that
can get things done.

Hillary is proud of the support she has received from:

·         33 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including the women
of the CBC who stood by her throughout her 11-hour appearance before the
House Benghazi Committee;

·         More than 50 African American Mayors
<https://www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/statements/2015/10/20/african-american-mayors-endorsements/>
from cities large and small;

·         A dozen South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Chairs
<https://medium.com/@HillaryforSC/sc-legislative-black-caucus-chairs-announce-support-for-clinton-5992b280fcf9>;

·         Leadership Councils in March primary states like Georgia
<http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/10/07/georgia-democratic-leaders-line-up-behind-hillary-clinton/>,
Tennessee
<http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2015/10/14/hillary-clinton-tennessee-campaign-team/73896040/>,
Texas
<http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/top-texas-democrats-join-clinton-for-president-lea/nn5rP/>
and Virginia
<http://www.richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/article_329971b1-cccc-5c59-86f3-8d57efb78890.html>
made up of elected officials and community and grassroots leaders. These
councils show organizational strength in key states with large percentages
of African American voters and are being used to help us mobilize
supporters.

These leaders are trusted validators and will be key advocates in their
communities for Hillary Clinton’s agenda. They will help build grassroots
support that will enable her to win the nomination.

The campaign has also gained the support of prominent figures of all ages
and various walks of life, each of whom has been a vocal advocate for our
community. These figures include:

·         Rep. John Lewis

·         U.S. Senator Cory Booker

·         Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

·         Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter

·         Former U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman

·         Ambassador Andrew Young

·         Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater

·         Pharrell Willams (Recording Artist)

·         Common (Actor, Recording Artists)

·         Magic Johnson (NBA Hall of Famer/Entrepreneur)

·         Usher Raymond (R&B Artist)

·         Grant Hill (Former NBA player/Entrepreneur)

·         Terri J. Vaughn (Actress)

·         Monica (R&B Artist)

·         Kelly Price (R&B Artist)

·         Karen Civil (Social Influencer/Entrepreneur)

·         Bob Johnson (Entrepreneur)

·         Erika Alexander (Actor)

·         Tichina Arnold (Actor)

·         John Legend (R&B Singer)

·         Cecily Tyson (Actor)

·         Star Jones (Lawyer/Journalist)

·         Jason Collins (Former NBA Player)

·         Uzo Aduba (Actor)

These surrogates will be deployed to the early four, Super Tuesday and
other March states to meet voters where they are, and  discuss why they
support Hillary Clinton and how she has fought for families and children
her entire career. They will also participate in a number of TV and radio
interviews to further amplify this message.

*Bold Proposals that Benefit the African American Community*

Hillary Clinton knows that race remains a driving factor in determining who
gets ahead and who gets left behind in America, and that our community
continues to face many challenges, including economic and social
disparities. That is why Hillary will continue to focus squarely on the
problems that keep African American families up at night:

·         As Republicans attempt to restrict voting access, Hillary will
repair the Voting Rights Act and implement universal, automatic voter
registration.

·         Hillary is calling for universal pre-K for all four-year-olds in
America. She will also fight to improve our high schools and dismantle the
school-to-prison pipeline.

·         On average, African American women earn 64 cents for every dollar
earned by a white man, and the median wealth of white households is 13
times the median wealth of African American households. Hillary will
continue to fight to raise the minimum wage, guarantee equal pay, provide
incentives for companies to share profits with their employees, and boost
apprenticeships to help more people, especially young people, get into the
workforce.

·         Hillary will ensure that cost doesn’t hold anyone back from
attending college. In addition to strengthening support for public schools
across the country, her plan will dedicate $25 billion to low-cost private
schools like HBCUs and would help the nearly 81% of African American
students who leave school with debt.

·         Nearly two out of five African American college students are
attending school while raising children. Hillary will provide child care
and scholarships to help meet the needs of these student parents.

·         Hillary will oppose Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) and will limit monthly out-of-pocket prescription drug costs
and expand free doctor visits when people get sick. Under the ACA, roughly
6.8 million African Americans have become eligible for health coverage and
can benefit from stronger protections. Hillary will also continue to make
the case that Republican governors should quit playing politics and expand
Medicaid.

Hillary recently met with a group of mothers and family members whose loved
ones' deaths have spotlighted two key issues: the epidemic of gun violence
which demands commonsense gun reforms and the sense of distrust that too
often exists between law enforcement and the communities they
serve. Hillary and the family members discussed the need to deliver real
reforms that can be felt on our streets, such as her policies to address
gun violence, including requiring comprehensive background checks, and
policing practices, including body cameras. Just last week, Hillary
outlined three additional components of her agenda to reform our criminal
justice system:

·         Hillary called for an end to racial profiling by supporting
legislation
to ban racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement
officials.

·         Hillary called for eliminating the sentencing disparities for
crack and powder cocaine, as these are two forms of the same drug, and
continuing to treat them differently disproportionately hurts African
Americans.

·         Hillary called for taking executive action to “ban the box*,”*
preventing the federal government and its contractors from asking about
criminal history at the initial application stage.

Of all the candidates in the race for President, Hillary Clinton has the
most comprehensive agenda to help African American families get ahead and
stay ahead. She will continue to build on these proposals throughout the
campaign as she listens to the challenges and aspirations of communities
across the country.

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