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NewsOne’s PolitickerOne blog tackles some of the most important topics in politics: Election 2016, moves by the Obama administration, voting rights, lawmaking, and the way that elected officials represent our communities. Three times a week, we will go beyond the mainstream media’s “pack” coverage of politics to highlight the underreported aspects of how politics and policy affect you and the people you care about. In between, follow the conversation on Twitter at #PolitickerOne.

In 2012, Black women voted at a higher rate than any other group—across gender, race, and ethnicity–and played a major role, along with other women of color, in President Obama’s re-election.

And in 2008, women-of-color showed up at the polls in historically high numbers and voted Democratic, electing Obama to the White House for the first time.

Now, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is courting Black women voters in the hopes of emulating Obama’s White House wins. And Clinton, a longtime supporter of issues involving women of color, has the support of some influential players across the nation.

Next month, some of those women are expected to come together. On Dec. 10 in New York City, Star Jones and other African-American women leaders will connect at an exclusive private reception and fundraiser called African-American Women For Hillary Clinton.

Donations start at $1,000.

“For me it’s a very easy choice,” Jones, former co-host of The View and president of the Professional Diversity Network and National Association of Professional Women, told NewsOne. “She is at the forefront of issues that are important to me and other women of color, including pay equity, health care and reproductive rights, increasing the minimum wage, paid family leave, among other things. Democrats are the only ones talking about these issues.”

Other names on the invitation include Cora Masters Barry, widow of former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, Yolanda Caraway, president and CEO of the Caraway Group, and Minyon Moore, principal of Dewey Square Group and head of state and local affairs and multicultural strategies practices.

“We’re excited and I think she is immensely qualified,” Moore told NewsOne. “She brings a lot of depth and experience to the table. I think that having a different voice in the mix after 44 men is important. She also brings a level of compassion that we need at this particular time.”

Indeed, Clinton is far more popular among women of color than White women, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Clinton got a favorable mark of 74 percent from African American, Hispanic and other nonwhite women. By contrast, 37 percent of white women have a favorable impression of Clinton, down from 48 percent in July to the lowest point in almost 10 years of Post-ABC polls. In the poll released Wednesday, 45 percent of the public overall had a favorable rating of Clinton, while 53 percent had an unfavorable view.

[…]

Democratic pollster Celina Lake, who has done extensive research on female voters,  said that women of color “really respect HRC’s resiliency and believe the attacks on her are due to Republicans and the media. White women are more concerned by the substance of the attacks and more influenced by the drumbeat in the media.”

For years, Jones has been a member of what she and her friends like to call the “brown girls” network, which has been dedicated to helping elect Clinton.

“Hillary has time and time again shown what kind of leader she is,” Jones told NewsOne. “She is someone who can weather baseless attacks and come out stronger. I always say Hillary is like Air Force One. You cannot knock this woman down. You can knock her around a bit, but you cannot knock her down or out of the sky. I want a leader like that.”

SOURCE: Washington Post | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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