Harold Ford? Why do the Dems need an african american on the ticket, they already have 96% of that vote. Hispanics and independent women are where the action is.
The Dems need to reward the black constituency, which has been taken for granted. They also want to increase black turnout, which can mean victory in the big electoral states. Hillary takes care of the independent women's vote.<./p>
The Hispanic vote is important, but the Dems still garner most of that vote. Interestingly, 32% of the Hispanic population lives in the South. In 2000, Hispanics made up only 7% of the turnout compared to 10% for blacks. Gore received 90% of the black vote in 2000 compared to Clinton's 84% in 1996. Bush got 31% of the Hispanic vote compared to Dole's 21%. A case could be made for Richardson, but it has to be weighed against alienating the black vote, which has been more loyal and waiting in line longer than the Hispanic constituency.