Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Inside Mike Bloomberg's Big Play for Black Voters

Associated Press

   MONTGOMERY, ALA. - A meeting with nearly 80 black pastors in Detroit. A
   speech before a black Democratic organization in Montgomery. A rally at
   a historically black university. A tour of Martin Luther King Jr.'s
   church. An early voting kickoff at an African American museum. All in
   the past two weeks.
   While Mike Bloomberg's rivals battled it out in majority-white Iowa and
   New Hampshire, the billionaire presidential candidate aggressively
   courted the black voters critical to any Democrat's chance of winning
   of the nomination. The effort, backed by millions of dollars in ads,
   has taken him across Southern states that vote on March 3, from
   Montgomery, Alabama, and this week Raleigh, North Carolina, and
   Chattanooga, Tennessee, states where African American voters can decide
   a Democratic primary.
   His pitch is one of electability and competence -- hoping to capitalize
   on black Democrats' hunger to oust President Donald Trump. But as he
   courts black voters he'll also have to reconcile his own record as
   mayor of New York and past remarks on criminal justice.

.