Obamacare and the Black Vote

In the one high-profile case of a Black member of Congress, Artur Davis (D-AL), running for Governor, the Congressman lost – and he lost big time. One major reason: he voted against the healthcare reform bill, now the Affordable Care Act and otherwise derided (depending on how you think about it) by conservatives as “Obamacare.” And when he lost, it was in a Democratic primary, no less.

Artur Davis wanted to be governor of Alabama and correctly realized that he needed a more moderate voting record. So he publicly cast a “nay” vote against health care reform. In response, Alabama’s Black voters made a decision that they’d rather have better, more affordable health care than their own first Black governor. As a result, they turned away from him in the primary in droves and Davis’s political career was over faster than disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner’s.

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