Clinton’s Sermon for Blacks: Vote

Signaling how pivotal the African American vote could be in Tuesday’s elections, President Clinton exhorted a black congregation Sunday to go to the polls and continue the civil rights “march to dignity.”

Democrats traditionally try to inspire black voters to go to the polls, and strategists of both parties agree that African Americans could make the difference this year in dozens of close races around the country.

The president, whose popularity in the black community has increased strikingly during the investigation of his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, delivered his appeal in a rousing address to a predominantly black congregation of about 3,000 at Baltimore’s New Psalmist Baptist Church.

“I have done everything I could to bring this country together,” Clinton told the churchgoers, many of whom were on their feet cheering him. “Tuesday, it’s your turn. Take it.”

David Bositis, a political analyst at the Washington-based Joint Center for Politics and Economics, said the black electorate is large enough in about half the states that it can easily swing some elections.

“This happens to be one of those election cycles where there is a lot happening in those states,” Bositis said. “It also comes at a time when the black vote is exceptionally attached to Bill Clinton.”

Races that could feel the impact of the black vote, Bositis and other analysts said, include key contests in California, where Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is in a close race with GOP contender Matt Fong and Lt. Gov. Gray Davis leadshis Republican rival, Dan Lungren, in the race for the governship.

A strong black turnout could also make a difference in Senate contests in New York, Indiana, South Carolina and North Carolina and in gubernatorial races in Alabama, Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts, according to political analysts. And Democrats harbor longshot hopes in the Illinois and Ohio gubernatorial elections, which could be swayed by solid black and labor votes.

Clinton is emphasizing the importance of the black vote in several ways in the days leading up to the election. In addition to attending church here Sunday, he scheduled several interviews with black and Latino media outlets for today. His first television interview since January will air on the Black Entertainment Television cable channel at 8 tonight.

“We’ve been trying to fine-tune our message and show people what is at risk if they don’t come out to vote,” said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste. “If they don’t come out to vote, all the hard work that has been done by the president and the Democrats in Congress is at risk.”

In the final oration of a service that lost none of its energy despite lasting three hours, Clinton told the faithful that their votes would count every bit as much as his or that of House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

Republicans, he said, felt they could get away with killing popular anti-smoking legislation, HMO regulation and school construction funds “because they think most Americans won’t vote.”

Even though it has been more than 40 years since Rosa Parks gave up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., Clinton said, America is still on “the long walk toward dignity” that civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about.

Tuesday’s election, he added, is about the issues of better education and health care. “But in a larger sense, it’s about that march to dignity. . . . It’s about whether the people who believe they should divide America can leave you out because you stay home.”

After the service, Emma Robinson said the president’s message was so strong that he was clearly trying not just to get the regular voters to the polls.

“He’s trying to reach people who have never thought much about voting,” said Robinson, a college counselor who is a regular at the church. “He wants this to be the year that it clicks for them that their votes count.”

Although the president never mentioned the impeachment process in Congress, the congregation was well aware that the election could affect the president’s security in office.

“Tuesday will be a referendum on what direction this country is going to take,” said Ken Johnson, 37, a car salesman. “Depending on the outcome, we will focus on the [government] programs people care about or on the impeachment process.”

On Sunday’s outing, in a welcome change from the jeers that have become common when Clinton has ventured out of Washington, the president was greeted in the church with enthusiastic standing ovations, hallelujahs and amens.

A recent survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that Clinton’s job performance was rated excellent or good by 85% of black respondents--up from 60% in a similar poll last year--compared with 48% of white respondents.

“I think he’s popular among African Americans because we have all faced obstacles and trials,” Johnson said. “Now he’s going through a lot of adversity, and we can identify with that.”