Top 5 Live-WURD Thursday November 5
1. Hillary Clinton’s strategy to woo black voters involves a ‘comprehensive’ policy agenda
Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton has personally directed her presidential campaign to make a major push to secure support among the African-American community.
Yahoo News has obtained a copy of a memo that was sent by top Clinton aides to key supporters on Tuesday that detailed her strategy for African-American outreach. It included details on her organizing in key primary states, the messages Clinton’s team will highlight for black voters, and plans to put some serious star power behind the effort.
President Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012 were aided by high turnout of over 65 percent of African-American voters, who are a core part of the Democratic base. Black turnout was, on average, 8.8 percent higher in the two presidential elections featuring Obama than it was in the prior three races.
In an analysis published in July, the Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter and David Wasserman described this question as a likely “key to 2016.″ They noted, “A return to pre-2008 African-American turnout levels wouldn’t necessarily doom a Hillary Clinton candidacy, but it would leave her with a whole lot less margin for error in a host of swing states.”
2. Carson surges to fore in US Republican race: polls
Billionaire Donald Trump must now share front-runner status in the US Republican presidential nominations battle with retired neurosurgeon and fellow political outsider Ben Carson, fresh polling showed Wednesday.
The conservative Carson, the only African-American in the 2016 White House race, is virtually tied at the top with Trump, trailing him by one percentage point, according to the Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday. But their trend lines are dramatically different.
Tuesday’s NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Carson surging into a six-point lead, quite a showing for a candidate who has largely shunned traditional campaign strategies and refused to play rough and tumble campaign politics with his rivals.
That follows a New York Times/CBS News poll from last week, just before the most recent Republican primary debate in which Carson remained largely on the margins, that showed Carson edging ahead of Trump nationally.
3. Last Philly Council race too close to call
The race among three Republicans for two at-large seats on Philadelphia City Council remained officially too close to call Wednesday, but two of the contenders expressed confidence that they would triumph. “We just finished an election and I won,” said challenger Al Taubenberger in a voicemail greeting. “I’m very, very optimistic,” Taubenberger said in a phone interview.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” said Councilman David Oh, also in a phone interview. Oh received the most votes of any Republican. Councilman Dennis O’Brien, who was running third and in danger of losing his seat, could not be reached for comment in the at-large contest.
With nearly 99 percent of the ballots counted, Oh had 34,297 votes, Taubenberger had 34,138, and O’Brien had 33,710. City Commissioner Stephanie Singer said Wednesday afternoon that the race was still too close to call and would remain so at least until the 1,870 absentee and provisional ballots had been counted. She said that could take about a week.
4. Student fatally shot after stabbing 4 at UC Merced
A male student at University of California, Merced, stabbed four people on campus as classes began Wednesday morning and was later fatally shot by campus police, a school spokesman said. Two of those stabbed were transported for treatment via helicopter, the school said on Twitter, while the two others were treated on campus.
“All conscious,” the university tweeted about the victims. No details were immediately available on what relationship, if any, existed between the assailant and the victims, said James Leonard, a school spokesman.
The school initially reported five people were stabbed, but later said the figure was four, said Lorena Anderson, a school spokeswoman. School officials weren’t releasing additional information on the attacker, Leonard said.
“I’m sure more information will come out on the student shortly,” Leonard said of the assailant. The student was shot by police and later died, the UC Merced Police Department said.
5. Michigan mother furious after 7-year-old handcuffed
Michigan mother, Chrystal McCaddem, demands answers as to why her 7-year-old son was handcuffed in school as a disciplinary action. According to WEYI-TV, the incident happened October 12 during an after-school program called youth Quest at Brownell STEM Academy in Flint, Mich.
McCadden said she received a phone call from the school and was told to pick up her son. When she arrived, she requested to have the handcuffs removed but was told by the officer that he did not have the key. MCcadden said her son has ADHD but is not violent.
“He don’t deserve to be in no handcuffs, he ain’t in here with no knife, he ain’t in her with no gun,” McCadden told WEYI-TV.
Police said in a statement, “An officer was dispatched to Brownell STEM Academy in response to an urgent call for immediate assistance with a child who appeared intent on injuring himself, as well as repeatedly assaulting others.”
The Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce, which runs the program, said, “We do not condone any physical interaction with our students and are glad to see that the police department is conducting an investigation.”
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Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon
