Mitch Perry
In a move that hopefully we’ll help him with black voters, former NAACP head Ben Jealous officially endorsed Bernie Sanders’ candidacy for president on Friday afternoon.
“I’ve been in touch with a range of grassroots black leaders throughout the South to get them involved with this campaign,” said Jealous on a conference call, promising that other activists will be involved with helping Sanders in his battle against Hillary Clinton.
The endorsement gives a much needed boost for the Vermont Senator, who doesn’t have nearly the name recognition with black and Latino voters that Clinton does.
“I think that Ben Jealous is going to be an enormous help in enabling us to do this, not just in South Carolina, but across the country,”said Sanders. “And so we’re very, very appreciative of his support, and yes, I think it will be a tremendous boost to our campaign.”
Many political observers have noted that Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two contests in the primary season, have a notable lack of racial diversity. That’s been to Sanders advantage, who hails from Vermont, another state that doesn’t have many black or brown voters.
That changes dramatically when the race moves to the South later this month, where first South Carolina and then a number of other southern states will vote for president, and where Clinton has established big leads.
Sanders says he’s not deterred by the perception that he may peak after next week.
“I think frankly that we do have the agenda that will make sense to the African-American community, both in terms of economics, and in terms of criminal justice and other issues, and I think our job is to get that agenda out aggressively.”
Sanders trails Clinton significantly in South Carolina. A reporter from BuzzFeed asked Sanders about reports that some of his supporters are expressing unease about his lack of campaigning there.
Sanders said he has had his hands full in Iowa and New Hampshire, joking that if elected president he would create more than 24 hours to the day and more than seven days to the week. “That will be my first order of business is to extend the week.”
He acknowledged the facts on the ground. “We are not that well known,” he said. “Especially in the African-American community, that is a very, very valid and legitimate concern.”
He also predicted he will exceed expectations in the Palmetto State. “Things sometimes turn pretty quickly.”
Jealous served as President and CEO of the NAACP from 2008-2012. His endorsement was supposed to take place in New Hampshire today, but the inclement weather conditions caused the campaign to call off a press conference and make the announcement via conference call.
