In the 2008 presidential election, African-Americans comprised a whopping 12.1 percent of the 131 million people who voted. The turnout rate alone for black eligible voters jumped 4.9 percentage points from 2004, with a total of two million first-time voters casting their ballots for Barack Obama. Will history strike twofold? The Obama Administration isn’t taking any chances, as they are looking to court the Black vote for another unprecedented rush to the polls. Armed with a simple message and novel outreach, Obama’s campaign message to Black voters is rooted in his administration’s accomplishments.

“The African-American community recognizes that from day one, President Obama has been fighting for policies that give everyone in this country a fair shot and the opportunity to succeed,” one campaign aide said on condition of anonymity. “That’s why he passed a payroll tax, which put more money back into the pockets of 18.5 million African-American workers and why he pushed for job training, education and health care reform.” No doubt his executive order in 2010 for $850 million in additional HBCU funding will encourage the Black intelligentsia from Howard University to Spelman to again show their support for President Barack Obama.

Will the new generation of higher educated Blacks flood the voting booths to cast their votes to help Obama win a second term? Or, will the stark events of the economic downturn prove too much for Obama to overcome?