the flip side of the `` race debate '' in Campaign 2008 : While the Obama campaign and its Democratic allies are aggressively working to address the concerns of blue-collar and rural whites who are reluctant to support a black candidate for president , there is an enthusiasm in the African-American community that Democrats believe could lead to dramatically increased turnout and perhaps tip the scales in several key battlegrounds , Missouri among them . African-Americans cast 10 percent of the ballots for president in 2000 and about 12 percent in 2004 . Obama aides believe if that percentage increased just modestly in 2008 , it could make the difference in at least a half-dozen states : Missouri , Ohio , North Carolina , Florida , Pennsylvania and Virginia . Wisconsin and Nevada are additional battlegrounds where Obama organizers are counting on an increase in African-American turnout in their Election Day game plan . To reach its goal , the campaign is counting on a combination of newly registered African-Americans and aggressive outreach to tens of thousands black voters who are registered to vote but have stayed home in past elections . See why African-Americans are finding hope in Obama
ST. LOUIS , Missouri -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Ollie James is 84 years old and a doubter no more . Ollie James , 84 , says he knows Obama is going to win , because he believes `` God answers prayers . '' `` I know he is going to win , '' James said after services at Leonard Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis . `` See , God answers prayers , and I am a praying man , and I know he is going to win . '' The `` he '' James is referring to is Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama . `` From where I came from , with the segregation and all the hatred , I never thought an African-American would get this far in the United States . Really . '' But three weeks until Election Day , James and many other African-Americans are now optimistic they will be part of history . `` I am kind of anticipating it will happen , '' said Raymond Henderson , a soft-spoken African-American man in his 60s . `` But no , I did not expect it to happen in my lifetime . '' It is