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Today we published a story about Kamala Harris and black voters. The story drew praise and criticism from readers on nytimes.com; we replied to some individual comments there, and I wanted to share and talk about the story here. nyti.ms/2HAohf6?smid=n…
Over the last few months, in talking to voters about a possible Harris candidacy, several of my reporters noticed that many black voters were thrilled; many others were wary, for a variety of reasons. Far more black men than black women were wary. So we decided to report out why:
While some readers found the story illuminating, others felt we put too much attention on race and not enough on issues. One said that talking to more than 30 black voters wasn't enough to make conclusions -- a fair point, though the story noted the fluid nature of voters' views.
Some readers challenged us about why we didn't write about Harris and white voters, or about any other candidate and race.
The reality is, Harris wants especially strong support from black voters. She knows how much they helped Clinton in 2016 and Obama in 2008; Obama had overwhelming black support and it made a difference in some states. We will be writing other stories about candidates and race.
The intent of the story was to ask black voters for their opinions about Harris, let them speak, and examine some common themes. I’m really happy with the story and the good work by @AsteadWesley and @susanchira
If you have comments or feedback, please email me at pdh@nytimes.com. Thanks for reading! nyti.ms/2HAohf6?smid=n…
