A Shift Toward Obama Is Seen Among Blacks
Some Older Voters, However, Remain Loyal to Clintons

By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 21, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 20 -- Three months ago, beauty shop owner Shanaya Hammond was a somewhat reluctant supporter of Sen. Barack Obama. A campaign aide persuaded her to put two Obama posters in the window of her Passion Slice salon and she planned to vote for him, but, she allowed, "I won't be mad if Hillary wins."

No more. She is all in for Obama now, having been convinced after the senator from Illinois won the Iowa Democratic caucuses that America is ready to vote for a black man for president. "I was like, okay, it's happening for us," said Hammond, 32, a single mother of three. "At first, you're wishing, you're hoping and praying, and now it's like, okay, we have a chance. Other people are willing to vote for him."

Hammond sits at the crossroads of Saturday's Democratic primary here. She's a woman, and therefore critical to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's hopes of winning, and she's African American, and thus crucial to Obama's chances.

The firming of her feelings for Obama reflects a shift in support that started with his victory in Iowa on Jan. 3. Three months ago, when The Washington Post first interviewed Hammond and several other African American women in this state, Clinton (N.Y.) had the support of 54 percent of black women nationally, compared with 35 percent for Obama. But Obama is now winning 60 percent of the black vote, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

African Americans are expected to make up as much as half of the electorate in South Carolina's primary, and black women as much as 30 percent of it.

As with women in general, there is a generational gap among black women. At Hair Menders salon, a short drive from Passion Slice, owner Margaret Bell, 63, has been unmoved by Obama's gains. She has backed Clinton all along and explains her support in terms almost straight from the candidate's mouth.

"I'm voting for Hillary because she's the only one who can go into that White House on Day One and get things done," Bell said. "He can't say that," she adds of Obama.

Bell's customers are mostly older, and most lean toward Clinton. But the majority of the twentysomethings and thirtysomethings who come through Hammond's door plan to vote for Obama.

"I think a lot of older people have the idea that America is not ready for a black president, and it would be easier to slide a woman in there," said Kristan Murray, 27, who was in Passion Slice for a wash and trim. "That doesn't leave room for a revolutionary mentality."

African American women have long been a demographic coveted by the candidates, who have called upon celebrity surrogates, such as Oprah Winfrey for Obama and Maya Angelou for Clinton, to win them over. Obama has dispatched his wife, Michelle, to appeal to black women in appearances across South Carolina. Both candidates have granted interviews to Essence magazine, and Clinton recently made an appearance on the talk show hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks for what the latter called "girl talk."

Both candidates have tried to engage in a little girl talk, sending campaign workers into beauty salons to reach black women.

Obama's campaign has employed "the B&B strategy" -- sending organizers into the same beauty and barber shops every couple of weeks to spread the word and elicit pledges for votes.

Clinton's campaign has relied heavily on Katie B. Catalon, Bell's sister-in-law and a retired beautician who heads the National Beauty Culturists' League, an 88-year-old organization of black hairdressers. Catalon has called hundreds of friends and former clients and has done nearly a dozen interviews with media outlets as far away as Japan, defending Clinton when she said it took a president to achieve many of the goals of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Because of gender and race, minds have gone back to 1952," Catalon told a television reporter from London during a filming in Bell's salon last week. "Like Dr. King said, we have to get past it."

Hammond is not much for politics, but in 2004, when she saw people her age going off to war in Iraq, she went to the polls for the first time and voted against President Bush. This year, she is looking for someone who will change how Washington operates. To her, no one speaks more directly to that desire than Obama.

"We need a change," Hammond said. "Something fresh."

Tiffany L. Brown, 35, a friend and fellow beautician, went with Hammond to vote four years ago. Brown is also a single mother, and the two face many of the same struggles. Hammond finds it a stretch to pay $203 a month for health insurance. Brown goes without insurance and owes about $10,000 for medical procedures.

Brown wavered for months between Clinton and Obama, until she saw a campaign ad in which Obama talked about his mother, who passed away at age 53 from cancer and worked to the day she died because she needed health insurance. Brown then decided to vote for Obama.

"He is very inspiring and very encouraging. He gives you hope. He makes you believe it is going to be better," she said.

And, she added with a smile, just in case anyone had any other ideas, "it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he looks good."

Hammond was not impressed by Clinton's appearance on Banks's show last week. Banks was her usual chatty self, but Hammond thought Clinton sounded canned when she suggested launching a reality TV show to pick a title for her husband if she becomes the country's first female president.

"Here are some of the things that have been suggested, like 'First Mate,' " Clinton said on the show. "His Scottish friends say 'First Laddy,' but we need ideas. I'll just keep calling him Bill."

"It seemed like she was saying what you wanted to hear," Hammond said. "Obama seems more real, and whatever it is, I like it. We need something different."

Bell and her clients in Hair Menders also watched Clinton on the show and thought the senator was likable. But Bell said personality is beside the point. The problem, she said, is that young people just do not remember all the good Clinton has done.

"There is a generational gap," Bell said. "Most of them probably don't even remember Hillary Clinton's time when she was a governor's wife and first lady. They don't have any experience with it. They don't know."

Catalon remembers well. She has watched with some distress as young black women flock to Obama, excited by his youth and inspirational oratory.

"I'm not in this for a pep rally to feel good," said Catalon. "She is the only candidate that can be elected in November."

Bell said she is worried about a slowing economy, fewer customers and whether Social Security will support her in retirement. She thinks Clinton's experience, with an assist from her husband, is what the country needs.

"At my age, what are we going to do?" she asked.

Nevertheless, she is not altogether opposed to Obama. "After Hillary has completed her eight years," she said, "I would consider voting for Obama."