The sign posted on a house at the corner of Trenton’s Walnut and Hampton avenues underscores Democrat concerns about a mail-biting presidential election. Actually, F exists as the optimal word in this predominantly Black neighborhood that continues to stave off poverty over decades of deterioration. The large blue sign dotted with red stars reads: TRUMP 2024 F**k Your Feelings. It’s the kind of message that generates fear in Democrats, afraid that polls suggesting a game-changing bloc of Black men may lean toward Republicans and tilt the election in favor of Trump. While a massive sea change of Black male voters, typically Democrats, may be overstated, the fear exists as real for Vice-President Kamala Harris and supporters of her presidential campaign. Former President Barack Obama addressed the issue during a speech in Pittsburgh last week. “We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama said, according to news reports. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday alleged Ms.Harris led former President Trump, 78-percent to 8-percent among likely Black voters. Obama received 95-percent of the Black vote in 2008 and 93-percent in 2012, according to exit polls. Mr. Obama considered gender bias a potential factor in some tepid response to Harris’ legitimacy. “You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses, I’ve got a problem with that,” he said. “Because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.” Obama pressed Black men to abandon ideas about supporting Trump or non-participation in this close election. “You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable,” Obama said. Democrats seem oblivious to the reality that many Black citizens, especially in crossroads like Hampton and Walnut where people for decades have lived in the crosshairs of poverty, have grown weary of promises voiced by Democrats, audacious hope that never reaches their doorsteps. While Harris holds a comfortable double-digit lead over Trump in most polls of New Jersey voters, rendering the city sign as less traumatic, such sentiment could matter in critical swing states. L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at [email protected].