Why Blacks Support the Candidates They Do

Perry Bacon Jr. has an interesting post at FiveThirtyEight examining the reasons that black voters “prefer establishment candidates over liberal alternatives”. He proposes five reasons:

1. Establishment candidates typically have existing ties to the black community
2. Black voters are pragmatic
3. Black leaders are part of the establishment and support its candidates
4. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party appeals to the well-educated more than other groups, and the vast majority of black Democrats don’t have college degrees
5. The left wing isn’t running enough black candidates

I would suggest some others. First, black voters tend to be more moderate or even conservative than Democrats, generally. They tend to be more religious than other Democrats. And progressives have not delivered for blacks. I don’t know why that is but I believe it’s true.

I would disagree with Mr. Bacon’s reasons #3. I think that black political leaders tend to be more progressive than black voters while black religious leaders tend to be much more conservative. Among blacks there is no bright line separating political leaders and religious leaders as there is among whites.