January 2020 poll shows Joe Biden still top pick among Black voters

A recent poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden (D) is the favored candidate among black voters by a wide margin.

According to the latest Washington Post/Ipsos national poll, 48 percent of Black voters who are likely to vote for a Democrat picked Biden as their top candidate.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are a distant second and third, with 20 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

"It's hardly a surprise that Vice President Biden has such a large lead," Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs, said.

"Our polling found that more than six in 10 African Americans believe the next president should continue to build on President Obama's policies, and Biden's campaign has promised to do exactly that," he explained.

The online poll was conducted Jan. 2-8 and surveyed a random national sample of 1,088 non-Hispanic Black adults over the age of 18. Overall, the poll has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.5 percentage points, and a four-point margin of error for the sample of 769 Democratic-leaning voters.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Rep. John Lewis on Joe Biden: "I don't think the remarks are offensive."

Civil Rights icon John Lewis came to Joe Biden's defense after Biden suffered backlash over his boasting of working with political adversaries, such as racist segregationists, as a lawmaker.

Biden hires strategist Symone Sanders

Joe Biden has hired Symone Sanders, a prominent African American political strategist, as a senior adviser to his newly launched presidential campaign.

The move adds a younger diverse voice to Biden's cadre of top advisers, which has been dominated by older white men. It suggests Biden is seeking to broaden his appeal to a new generation of Democrats.

Sanders, 29, rose to prominence during the 2016 campaign as press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. She then became a high-profile political analyst on CNN and is likely to be a forceful Biden defender on television.

Democratic strategist and former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile called Sanders "battle-tested" and said the hire was "one of the best moves" the Biden campaign could make.

"She understands how to build a coalition, and that women of color are the backbone of the Democratic Party," said Brazile, who added that Sanders also helped her bridge the gap with millennials after the contentious 2016 primary elections.

Sanders was recruited by numerous 2020 candidates, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

[SOURCE: ABC BEWS]