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Extensive computer use, according to recent surveys, is more common among whites than minorities. More than six in 10 whites describe themselves as Internet users, while about half of blacks say they use it, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Among frequent Internet users, the digital divide widens between whites and minorities, with 60 percent of whites and 40 percent of blacks who go online saying they do so often. Beyond the source of support, two issues that could prove problematic for Dean are his opposition to expanding gun-control laws and his decision, while governor, to sign a civil-unions bill. Gun control is popular among inner-city residents faced with high crime rates. And while some equate discrimination based on sexual orientation with racial discrimination, many blacks do not see those prejudices in the same terms, viewing the matter through the prism of religion. A recent Pew poll showed blacks were more likely than whites to oppose gay marriage - 64 percent to 51 percent. That might be a sticking point, said Alan Smith-Hicks, a black electrical engineer attending a Meetup session for Dean in Baltimore last week. Theyre concerned hes too liberal, that hes going to make gay marriage a federal law. Minority support for the candidates will be at the forefront Tuesday night as the nine Democrats gather in Baltimore for a presidential debate sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and Fox News. To be sure, Dean faces the same problems as many of the other major candidates in the crowded primary field. At some point, hes got to come to terms with it, William Mayer, a political scientist at Northeastern University, said about minority outreach. The good news is that none of the top-tier candidates are doing any better with minority voters than he is. Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said Dean has a chance of winning Hispanic support because theres not a candidate now who has obvious appeal to Latinos. Asked why most of his supporters, particularly at the Meetup sessions, are white, Dean readily acknowledged that his support has been from the ground up, while attracting minorities must be done from the top down. You cant just do the grass roots without the blessing of the leaders, Dean said last week.
Last week, about 40 people attended a Meetup session at an upscale coffee shop in a mostly white, trendy enclave miles from the predominantly black, heavily Democratic western neighborhoods of Birmingham. The crowd included college students, young professionals, artists and a few middle-aged business people. It was mostly white, except for an Asian woman and a black man who came in late, said little and left early. It was like this at the last two I attended, said David White, a white insurance company employee. SI Reasoning, an artist and musician, said the Meetups arent reaching Alabama blacks, many of whom are poor. Clifford Simpson, 30, said Dean supporters have to get out of the coffeehouses and personally reach out to minorities if they really want to broaden their base. We can sit here and send e-mails and talk all day, but its not going to happen until we get out and talk to people in their communities, Simpson said.
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