How Does Clinton Fare With Black Voters In Pennsylvania?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hillary Clinton won big in South Carolina largely because 84 percent of Black Democrats chose her over Bernie Sanders and she's expected to well today, too. But what about in Pennsylvania?
The Black vote is critical to a Democratic win in November, and while Bernie Sanders is proving to be a formidable opponent, many believe Hillary Clinton will be the victor in key states like Pennsylvania.
"I believe that she can actually win in a general election," says Reverend Mark Tyler, pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church in Society Hill. His church was the location of a meeting between Secretary Clinton and 50 other pastors in January. He called the meeting a "gamechanger" that lead him and many others to endorse Clinton.
"Having a chance to meet her in that setting, to hear her...to see her," he says, "sometimes in those big rallies personalities do not come across-. I wish more people would get the chance to talk to her."
But Tyler is among the "older" Black voters who tend to ride the Clinton train. Younger voters, particularly millennials, are "feeling the Bern" causing a generational divide even within Black families.
"Both my wife and I are going with Hillary Clinton," says Tyler, "but my daughter, who is 20, couldn't wait to by her Bernie Sanders bumper sticker."
"Only Bernie Sanders has marched for Dr. King, only Bernie Sanders got arrested while fighting for civil rights," says Chris Norris, CEO of Techbook Online. He has become voice representing Philadelphia's anti-Clinton millennial voter. He says his generation wants real change and to them, Clinton represents the establishment that voted in the 1994 crime bill that has left millions of Black men behind bars.
"You have this age group who wants a revolution and then you have an older age group who is tired of revolution and says we want safety, we want predictability and that's Hillary Clinton," says Norris.
He says support for Sanders is growing in Philadelphia, as more rallies are being held and grassroots support builds. Norris believe Sanders could close the gap.
"I think it's going to be a toss up, I think it could go either way," he says.
A recent poll has Clinton up 16 points among non-white voters in Pennsylvania.
