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While her lead grows against GOP nominee Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton can now afford to put more of a spotlight on Democratic candidates running in key Senate and House races around the country.

Representatives James Clyburn and G.K. Butterfield told The New York Times they want Clinton to dip into a portion of her $150 million war chest and use it to increase voter turnout in states with large Black populations.

Their concern is the lack of enthusiasm amongst young Black voters. There has been a considerable drop-off in their engagement since Obama ran for president. The Democratic leaders also believe high Black voter turnout will ensure Democrats gain control of both the Senate and the House.

The New York Times reports:

Mr. Butterfield, noting that the party’s “down-ballot races are not as comfortable as the presidential race,” added: “I’m concerned about the African-American vote. We’ve got to get a turnout in the African-American community that equals or surpasses the white turnout.”

During Tuesday morning’s edition of NewsOne Now, Roland Martin and his panel of guests discussed Clyburn and Butterfield’s calls to invest in Black voter turnout.

Martin believes the two congressmen have a valid point: “Whether you are Democrat or Republican, you want either large majorities or you want there to be a narrow minority” in election results.

With greater investment in voter turnout, Democrats could shrink the GOP’s numbers in the House of Representatives and “make your job easier in two years and retake the House, but also you force Republicans to have to talk to you in a different way,” said Martin.

According to the host of NewsOne Now, the same thing holds true in the Senate.

A. Scott Bolden, the Former Chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, said, “Butterfield and Clyburn are right, but what they are really arguing for is more money on the ground, because you can take all the polling, all the social media, all the high technology that comes into polling, voting and organization, but in the end on Election Day and leading up to Election Day … it’s about knocking on doors, dragging them to the polls.”

Bolden added, “They don’t have enough money on the ground in some of these battleground states in order to do just that – transport voters – and that is really what Clyburn and Butterfield are complaining about.”

Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now panel discuss Democratic calls for Hillary Clinton to empty her war chest and invest in voter turnout in the video clip above.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

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