CNN news 2012-03-07 加文本

cnn news 2012-03-07

AZUZ: The only state named after a president held its Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday. Former Governor Mitt Romney came away with the win. He also got some momentum heading into this week`s Super Tuesday contest. We`ll have more on those for you tomorrow.

AZUZ (voice-over): Tens of thousands of Washingtonians had been expected to take part in the caucus meetings this weekend. We`ve talked about candidates winning delegates in primaries and caucuses. Washington`s caucuses award those delegates proportionately. So since Governor Romney got the most votes, he also won the most delegates, but he didn`t win all of them.

AZUZ: The Republican candidate who wins his party`s nomination will face off in the general election against President Obama, the likely Democratic nominee. When he was elected in 2008, Obama had overwhelming support from one group of Americans. Suzanne Malveaux looks at whether history might repeat itself in this year`s election, and the possible reasons why or why not.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, ANCHOR, cnn NEWSROOM (voice-over): Donnel Scott has a framed newspaper story on his wall about President Obama when he won the 2008 election.

DONNEL SCOTT, CONSULTANT: I wanted to capture this for my family, because, again, it was so historical.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): But this year, he`s not sure he wants to vote for Obama again.

SCOTT: These next few months are going to be the telltale sign of me making a decision.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): African-Americans have been hit hard by the economy, with black unemployment at 13.6 percent, almost double the rate of whites.

SCOTT: I`ve had times I`ve held almost three or four different jobs at one time. But when you have a family that you`re trying to support, you will do whatever it takes, no matter the odds.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): In 2008, African-Americans went to the polls in record numbers, 96 percent of African-Americans who voted voted for President Obama. But some people in the black community feeling a sense of disappointment now. The question is: can the president hold on to the black vote?

Former Obama policy adviser and now DNC head, Patrick Gaspard, believes he can.

PATRIC GASPARD, DNC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by the recession. Over the course of the last 23 months, we`ve, of course, seen 3.7 millions jobs grown in the private sector alone. And there is a sense that we`re beginning to turn this around.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Representative Maxine Waters has been one of the president`s toughest critics for not doing enough for black unemployment. Even so, she says Republican attacks on President Obama will help energizing blacks to vote.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D) CALIFORNIA: Since the Republican candidates have taken to the air with these debates, they have tried to undermine the president in so many ways. They have strengthened the resolve of African- Americans to reelect this president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we`ve got to decide what kind of country we want to be.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Last month, the Obama campaign launched African-Americans for Obama to generate support in black communities. At a barber shop in Atlanta, opinions were mixed on whether or not to vote for the president in November.

SHAQ DAVIS, BARBER: He`s going to have to become very convincing to minorities right now. Other than that, it`s going to sound like the same story over again. And they`re still waiting on change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he`s done a ton with the cards that he was dealt. I think four more years would do him and do us and do the country well.

AZUZ: Well, at the start of today`s show, we said we`d tell you who`s going to be the next president. Didn`t say of the United States, though. Russia held its presidential election yesterday, and as the votes came in, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared victory.

AZUZ (voice-over): This is Putin on the left here, with Russia`s current president. If these election results are confirmed, Putin will be going back to the job he held from 2000-2008. He had to step down because Russian presidents can`t serve more than two terms in a row.

Putin appeared to have a big lead at the polls, but there have been a lot of protests against him recently. One Russian lawmaker was demanding a runoff election because he didn`t think Sunday`s votes were counted fairly.