The 'New Look' of the Post-Obama Electorate by Theodore R. Johnson The Atlantic

As the black American experience becomes more nuanced due to a wider mix of income, education, housing, geography, and a number of other socioeconomic indicators within the group, the electorate’s policy views have become more varied and complex. This, coupled with exasperation with electoral politics, has revealed that many blacks are beginning to feel like a people without a party.

As I’ve previously written, the intra-racial diversity of lived experiences is exposing fault lines between blacks and the Democratic Party. This is evident in how Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have been more vigorously challenged on race issues than in past election cycles. Moreover, more black Republicans are running for national office: Half of the newest black members of Congress are Republicans, and more black Republicans have run for the presidency since 2000 than black Democrats. In 2012, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney nearly doubled the percentage of black Republican votes compared with McCain in 2008. And new research shows that some segments of the black electorate are beginning to prioritize their self-interests over the group’s well-being—a departure from the black voting canon.