Blacks bring it home for Bill de Blasio by Jonathan Capehart

[...] When I asked whether it was possible for his candidate to snatch the black vote from the only African American in the race, the answer was succinct. “Yup. I do. Particularly amongst black women,” he replied. He was right on both counts.

[...] Former city comptroller Bill Thompson was the only African American in the race. He and de Blasio tied for the black vote with 42 percent each. Now, let’s take a deeper dive. Thompson beat de Blasio among black men, 49 percent to 36 percent. As predicted, De Blasio won black women, 47 percent to 37 percent. But here’s the kicker: While black men were 12 percent of voters, black women made up 17 percent.

[...] “Thompson lacks vision or energy,” my Big Apple source said. “He doesn’t connect.” Count that as a shame because Thompson is a smart, capable guy. Unfortunately, he has as much fire as a match under running water, and he completely blew the opportunity handed to him four years ago. Thompson came within four points of denying Mayor Bloomberg a third term. That near-victory gave Thompson a natural platform to build a constituency as the city’s alternative voice. He did nothing with it.

But when it comes to Thompson and the black vote, I believe there was something else at work. As we all know, de Blasio’s wife Chirlane is African American. But my unscientific and generalized analysis after more than four decades of observation says that a white male public person with a black wife or girlfriend gets major approval from African Americans in general and black women in particular. It’s the most tangible sign that “they” all don’t hate us and that some of “them” not only understand us but also know us.

Take that feeling, add the affirming Afro-wearing Dante, mix in that wonderfully joyous picture of the biracial de Blasio family working it out during the West Indian Day parade and overlay it with de Blasio’s full-throated opposition to stop and frisk, and you’ll see why the black vote split between one of their own and, well, one of their own.