Among many black political observers, there is a pronounced sense that Obama’s advisers have consciously distanced themselves from older black leaders who might galvanize prospective voters — especially in the many impoverished black communities where there is no tradition of treating voting as an obligatory civic duty. Ronald Walters, director of the University of Maryland’s African American Leadership Center, says “You can’t send young volunteers into the hollows of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, with BlackBerries, reaching out to black voters, and expect them to do the same kind of job. If people knew Jesse [Jackson] or Al [Sharpton] was coming, thousands would come out and do what they needed to do — show up on Election Day.” Walters contends that blacks could account for as much as 20% of the Democratic vote nationally, up from 15% in 2004. “For [Obama’s advisers] to hold the black civic culture at a distance,” he said, “there’s going to be a cost.”
What’s enough? I read the 4 pages. He’s doing enough.